Kraken lose to Canucks in home debut

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Kraken lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks in their home debut Saturday in the first game played at Climate Pledge Arena.

Bo Horvat scored two goals, and Thatcher Demko made 29 saves for the Canucks (3-2-1), who ended a season-opening six-game road trip with two wins in a row.
Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves for the Kraken (1-4-1), who played the first five games of their inaugural NHL season on the road. Seattle has lost four in a row.
"We came up with a lot of energy, a lot of purpose, we got the lead," Kraken captain Mark Giordano said. "And then the bottom line is they made us pay on a couple mistakes."
Vince Dunn scored the first goal in the new arena on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle with four seconds left in the first period to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Horvat tied the game 1-1 at 11:09 of the second period. Conor Garland stole the puck at the blue line and passed to Horvat, who scored from the top of the slot.
Giordano scored his first goal of the season on a shot from the left face-off dot to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead at 5:09 of the third period.
Horvat put in a rebound for a power-play goal to tie it 2-2 at 12:52, and Garland scored unassisted off a turnover at 15:58 to give the Canucks their first lead, 3-2.
"You want to play a full 60 minutes and maybe not get down in the third period and have to claw our way back," said Horvat, the Canucks captain. "It just shows we have resilience in the room and guys stepped up at different times. [Garland] scored the game-winner there and came up big for us so just overall happy to get that one."

Garland has scored eight points (three goals, five assists) in a season-opening six-game point streak. He was traded to the Canucks from the Arizona Coyotes on July 23.
"It's been a lot of fun for me," Garland said. "That power-play goal was huge, that's our captain. That's what leaders do -- they go get a big goal like that. Then it was nice for me to get a chance and capitalize. It's a big-time win for our team."
Justin Dowling scored an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final.
"It's probably our best 60 (minutes) of the year," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "Pretty even first and I thought we were able to tilt the ice a little bit in the second period, which you want to be able to do against a team that's at the end of a road trip. I like the way we played in the third. Obviously taking a penalty at a tough time against a good power play hurt us. And then the one bounce of the game went their way on the game-winner."
NOTES:The Canucks begin a seven-game homestand when they play their home opener Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. … Garland's point streak is the longest by a player to begin his Vancouver career. ... Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a game-high five shots on goal in 24:26. ... The Kraken will try for their first home win Tuesday when they host the Montreal Canadiens.