The Canucks were unable to claw back out of an offensive hole, ultimately leading to their 5-2 loss to the Kraken.
The Vancouver Canucks will have to wait another day to register two consecutive wins on home ice, as they suffered a 5–2 loss to the Seattle Kraken tonight. Evander Kane and Marco Rossi scored for Vancouver, while Nikita Tolopilo stopped 28 goals on 33 shots faced.
Seattle came out strong with a good chunk of shots to start, but Vancouver soon picked up the pace and won themselves the shot battle after the first period, putting 15 up on Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer compared to Seattle’s 10. During the second period, however, it was all Kraken, with Seattle doing a good job of shutting down Vancouver’s breakouts and keeping the Canucks hemmed in their own zone. It wasn’t until closer to the end of the period that Vancouver was able to generate a little more offence. By that point, Seattle had already pulled ahead.
“Obviously, you give up five goals, that’s never a recipe for success. I thought we did some good things in the first period. Second period, we had some chances as well. They got a few power plays, gave them some momentum late in the third. But ultimately, we’ve got to find a way to score a few more goals and keep a few out of more of our net,” Evander Kane said of his team’s effort post-game.
Tonight’s effort produced a solid offensive game from the line of Kane, Elias Pettersson, and Drew O’Connor, who all factored into the Canucks’ first goal of the game. Pettersson’s defensive play allowed Zeev Buium to pick up the puck, feed it to O’Connor, who sent it up-ice to Kane to send him on a break. This line also put up some solid O-zone presence in the first period and played a team-high 14:07 together.
Aside from this particular line, Vancouver’s lines got shaken up a bit. Jake DeBrusk skated with Teddy Blueger and Linus Karlsson for a little, while Curtis Douglas took a shift with Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser. The Canucks’ defensive pairings also shifted a bit, though this was due to defenceman Elias Pettersson leaving the game as a result of injury.
While Vancouver did tie things up, ultimately, the later effort in today’s game wasn’t strong enough for them to try and take another win. They were unable to claw back after facing pressure from the Kraken and paid for it in the third period when Seattle scored two more.
“The guys knew that they had a good first. They knew the situation they were in and they were pushing,” Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote said post-game. “You have a couple go in quick like that, it gets mentally hard at times, but they were fighting through it, they were talking, yeah, they were pushing. Like I said, it’s against a real desperate team and you can’t give them a head-start like that, [with] a couple of those goals.”
Mar 14, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Marcus Pettersson (29) and forward Drew O'Connor (18) and defenseman Victor Mancini (90) watch as Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers (10) scores on goalie Nikita Tolopilo (60) in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn ImagesStats and Facts:
- Drew O’Connor tallies his 100th NHL point with an assist on Evander Kane’s goal
- Marco Rossi scores his third goal in six games
- Zeev Buium registers his 22nd point of the season, putting him one-away from third-most by a rookie defenceman
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
4:12 - SEA: Jared McCann (17) from Brandon Montour and Jordan Eberle
11:42 - VAN: Evander Kane (12) from Drew O’Connor and Zeev Buium
19:10 - SEA: Bobby McMann (20) from Eeli Tolvanen and Shane Wright (PPG)
2nd Period:
5:06 - SEA: Jamie Oleksiak (4) from Matty Beniers and Brandon Montour
3rd Period:
4:14 - SEA: Bobby McMann (21) from Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers
9:58 - SEA: Matty Beniers (18) from Jordan Eberle and Bobby McMann
19:40 - VAN: Marco Rossi (8) from Brock Boeser
Up Next:
Vancouver’s home stand resumes when the Canucks take on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm PT. Florida will be without leading goal-scorer Sam Reinhart as the Vancouver-local will be out of the lineup due to injury.
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