Canucks Beat the Kraken 5-2, But Lose the Playoff Bid

Vancouver Canucks 5, Seattle Kraken 2

The Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Tuesday night and swept the four-game season-series all while being eliminated from the playoffs.

When the Dallas Stars finished regulation tied 2-2 earlier Tuesday evening against the Vegas Golden Knights they earned a point. That officially put the Vancouver Canucks out of the playoffs. It happened with the Canucks playing about four minutes into the 2nd period against the Kraken.

Vancouver has now missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year and for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

Huggy and Spence

With his 1st period assist, Quinn Hughes set the new single season scoring record for a Vancouver Canucks defenceman with his 64th point, leaving Doug Lidster behind. Lidster held the record since the 1986-’87 season.

Spencer Martin started in net for the Canucks after Thatcher Demko was declared day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Demko was absent from the morning skate Tuesday after missing practice on Monday. AHLer, goalie prospect Joey Daccord started in net for Seattle.

Special Teams

Kyle Burroughs took a hooking penalty at 8:50 of the 1st period with his team leading 2-0. The Kraken entered with the 29th ranked penalty kill AND power play in the NHL. The Kraken failed to score with the man advantage. In fact, until 11:35 of the period they couldn’t even muster a shot-on-goal.

Seattle’s Carson Soucy went for cross checking at 13:09 and the Canucks utilized most of the two-minutes before scoring.

Late in the 1st period the Kraken earned a 1:48 long two-man-advantage that carried over into the 2nd period. They didn’t score.

Seattle would get another 5-on-3 early in the 2nd period and they’d tally just as the first penalty ended. That meant the 2nd penalty came off the board because the power play goal was scored. Unfortunately JT Miller then went in during the stoppage of play for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Kraken failed to score on the ensuing 5-on-4.

The penalty calls and the frequency of them began to get ridiculous and monotonous. We’ll let you know if anyone else actually scores on a power play.

Goal Scorers

1st Period 1-0 Vancouver – Sheldon Dries (2) – Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2:46) Even Strength

((– Cutting in on the right side on a three-on-one, Dries kept it and fired a shot short-side.))

1st Period 2-0 Vancouver – JT Miller (31) – Conor Garland, Quinn Hughes (3:34) Even Strength

((– Miller stepped into a one-timer from the high slot on a succinct blind pass from Garland.))

1st Period 3-0 Vancouver – Oliver Ekman-Larsson (5) – Conor Garland, Nic Petan (15:05) Power Play

((– A simple half-paced shot from the mid-point that found its way through a screen and inside the post.))

2nd Period 3-1 Seattle – Jordan Eberle – Matty Beniers, Jared McCann (4:59) Power Play

((– With numbers down low the Kraken basically ended up with a 2-on-0 and Eberle made no mistake from in close.))

2nd Period 3-2 Seattle – Morgan Geekie (7) – Riley Sheahan, Adam Larsson (9:12) Even Strength

((– Seattle dump-in, retrieval, chip pass to low LW ciircle, snipe high glove.))

3rd Period 4-2 Vancouver – Luke Schenn (5) Matthew Highmore, Quinn Hughes (13:10) Even Strength

((– Lose puck in behind the goalie and “Schenner” stepped up and pushed it home.))

3rd Period 4-2 Vancouver – Quinn Hughes  (8)- Conor Garland (15:59) Even Strength

((– Down low, left wing circle, no chance for Daccord.))

Simmer’s Canucks 3 Stars:

3) Oliver Ekman Larsson – Goal and an assist in the first period. Send it to the net and good things happen.

2) Conor Garland – Two assists in the first period, one of them pretty routine, the other pretty nifty. Added another.

1) Quinn Hughes – Benchmark point followed by two more. A three point night as he breaks a 35-year-old team record.