Tides Shift Around the NHL as Kraken Down Canucks

After a slow start to the season, the Seattle Kraken are starting to get into gear.

Saturday night, the third-year expansion team handed the Vancouver Canucks their first regulation loss of the year on home ice, winning by a 4-3 score at Rogers Arena. 

Now with losses in three of their last five games, the Canucks' momentum has begun to downshift after their scintillating start.

And while the Kraken stumbled out of the gate, going 2-5-2 in their first nine games, they're 5-3-2 since Oct. 30 and 2-0-1 in their last three.

On Saturday, Jordan Eberle finished with a goal and two assists and was named the game's first star. Seattle's other goals came off the sticks of Jamie Oleksiak, Yanni Gourde and Matty Beniers — the kind of balanced scoring that made the Kraken successful last season on the way to their first post-season berth and first playoff series win.

"That's kind of the team mentality that we have here," Eberle said after the game. "Everyone chips in, and that's why this group is a special group. We have four lines that can roll and four lines that can compete with any line. We win by committee, and it's good to see some guys getting going."

Eberle's goal, which put the Kraken up 2-1, came after Oliver Bjorkstrand shot the puck through a maze of bodies just after the end of a power play at 13:04 of the second period. 

There was a long video review for a possible high stick, but the NHL situation room eventually confirmed Eberle's stick was at or below the crossbar level.

It was just the second tally of the season for the 33-year-old, who hit the 20-goal mark in both his seasons with the Kraken to date. 

Oleksiak's goal was his first of the year, while Gourde and Beniers each scored their third.

Last season's Calder Trophy winner with 24 goals and 57 points, Beniers has now scored in three of Seattle's last six games after starting the year in a 13-game drought.

A point of emphasis for the Kraken on Saturday was staying out of the penalty box. 

"If you look over our last half dozen games, we're at the top of the league in terms of the number of power plays that we've been giving up," said Seattle coach Dave Hakstol. "We were averaging four a game. so that's something that we addressed this morning, that we wanted to clean up."

The Kraken were called for just two minors on Saturday — both in the third period and one to negate a power play.

That disciplined play did more than just frustrate the Canucks, who are clicking at an impressive 32.4 percent but saw just 2:21 of action with the man advantage on Saturday and failed to convert. It also allowed the Kraken to play to their strength and get their entire bench in on the action.

"Staying out of the box out was really huge for us," Gourde said. "I think that's one way to get everybody involved. Get everybody's legs going and looking fast."

With a league-high 19 games already in the books as of Saturday night, the Kraken have a points percentage of .474 after beating Vancouver, which puts them 23rd in the league. But with 18 points, they've nestled up with the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes. Those teams currently hold the two wild-card spots in the West but have played two fewer games than the Kraken.

Nevertheless — a team that was getting counted out early in the season has clawed its way back into the middle of the pack and won't be out of the mix when the annual American Thanksgiving playoff prediction tradition takes place next week.

And Seattle isn't the only team making moves in the Western Conference. 

While the Edmonton Oilers' three-game winning streak fizzled out in Tampa on Saturday, the Winnipeg Jets also started slow, at 1-3-0, but have since strung together a 9-2-2 stretch, including wins in six of their last seven games. Kyle Connor scored his 14th of the year in the Jets' 5-2 win over the Coyotes on Saturday, moving him into sole possession of first place in the Rocket Richard race.

Over in the East: amid long-term injury issues and concern about a Stanley Cup hangover, the Florida Panthers started the season with two wins in their first five games. But they've since gone 9-2-1 to build a .676 points percentage and are sitting right behind the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division standings.

After their 1-3-1 start, the Washington Capitals have gone 8-1-1 since Oct. 25. With a .667 points percentage, they're sitting second in the Metropolitan Division. 

And a trip to Sweden appears to be just what the Ottawa Senators needed to escape all the drama that has swirled around their team this season. They won both their games in Stockholm, have now won four of their last five and are back above .500 at 8-7-0. 

As for the Canucks — it was all but inevitable that some of their puck luck would sift away after their incredible start. Certainly, the margin on Eberle's goal was razor thin, but they had a call go their way in the first period when a J.T. Miller tap-in was ruled to have just cleared the goal line before being scooped away by Will Borgen.

The goal briefly moved Miller into first place in the NHL points race. Then, in the second, Hughes fired a rocket past Philipp Grubauer. And Elias Pettersson receiving the second assist, the Vancouver trio remains deadlocked with 28 points as of Sunday morning.

On July 1, Ian Cole was brought into Vancouver as a veteran free agent whose teams have consistently made the playoffs — and who won a pair of Stanley Cups with Rick Tocchet, Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.

His words carry weight when it comes to the mindset the Canucks will need to embrace to get themselves back on track.

The Kraken and Canucks will meet again in Seattle on Friday when NHL play resumes after the one-day Thanksgiving break. 

Next up, Seattle hosts the Calgary Flames on Monday, while Vancouver will get a visit from the San Jose Sharks.