Tyler Motte had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks bounced back with a decisive 5-2 win over the visiting Seattle Kraken on Monday.
Travis Hamonic, Vasily Podkolzin, Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Canucks (24-22-6), while Juho Lahmmikko, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller each contributed a pair of assists.
Jared McCann — playing in his 400th NHL game — and Mark Giordano replied for the Kraken (16-32-4), who dropped their fourth game in a row.
Vancouver was coming off an ugly 7-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, but is 6-3-1 in its last 10 outings.
Thatcher Demko stopped 25-of-27 shots for the Canucks and Kraken goalie Chris Driedger made a season-high 41 saves. Vancouver’s 46 shots was also a season high.
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Pearson put away an empty-net strike with 92 seconds left on the clock to seal the score at 5-2. The goal drew chants of “Bruce, there it is!” from the crowd in tribute to Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Seattle got a prime chance to cut into the deficit late in the third when Vancouver’s Matthew Highmore was called for interference after toppling Morgan Geekie in the neutral zone.
The best shot of the man advantage came from the Canucks when Motte picked off a pass, orchestrating a two-on-one with J.T. Miller, only to see Miller’s shot stymied by Driedger’s pad.
Vancouver came into the final frame on a power play after Alex Wennberg was called for slashing late in the second.
Horvat was quick to use the man advantage, scoring just 35 seconds into the third. Miller sliced a pass to the Canucks captain from along the boards and Horvat sent a rocket soaring past Driedger.
Vancouver was 1 for 4 with the man advantage Monday, while Seattle failed to score on four power plays.
The Canucks came into the second with renewed fervour and outshot the Kraken 18-4 across the period.
Stationed at the side of the net, Podkolzin restored Vancouver’s lead 16:41 into the frame. Quinn Hughes’s initial shot hit Adam Larsson in the crease and Podkolzin quickly capitalized, batting in the lose puck to make it 3-2.
It was the Russian rookie’s first goal since Jan. 1 and he celebrated with a double fist pump.
Hamonic buried his first goal of the season earlier in the frame and the 200th point of his NHL career. The defenceman fired a blast into a sliver of space between Driedger and the post to knot the score at 2-2.
Seattle took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission thanks to Giordano’s short-handed tally.
With Vince Dunn in the box for interference, the veteran defenceman beat Pettersson to a pass in the Canucks end and zipped up the slot, sending a shot in over Demko’s stick 14:26 into the opening frame.
Fans were still filtering into Rogers Arena when Vancouver opened the scoring just 11 seconds into the game.
Lahmmikko picked up the puck behind Seattle’s net and fed Motte from below the goal line. The centreman jammed a wrist shot past Driedger and put the Canucks up 1-0 with his sixth goal of the year.
Motte’s goal was the quickest an NHL player has scored this season, topping the tally L.A. Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson put in the back of the net 12 seconds into a battle against the Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day.
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The Kraken drew level 3:12 into the game off a two-on-one rush. Marcus Johansson carried the puck up the ice and dished it across the top of the crease to McCann, who was waiting back door for the easy tap it.
McCann’s 21st goal of the season came against the team that drafted him 24th overall back in 2014.
The Canucks will close out a three-game homestand Thursday against the surging Calgary Flames. The Kraken host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
NOTES: Miller extended his point streak to four games, with seven points (two goals, five assists) across the stretch. … Giordano now leads all active NHL defencemen in short-handed goals with 11 over his career. … Vancouver recalled defenceman Madison Bowey from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Monday marked the Kraken’s first-ever regular-season game in Vancouver.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
