The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their preseason Saturday night with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken, and the result came with a few useful signs for head coach Manny Malhotra’s staff.
It was messy early. Seattle jumped in front by two, and Vancouver spent a chunk of the first period looking like a team still sorting out its details.
But the game turned once the Canucks settled in. The puck moved cleaner, the breakouts looked sharper, and the pressure around the net started to show up.
For a final preseason tune-up, that mattered more than the score.
Elias Pettersson was right in the middle of it. He scored, drew a penalty and kept showing up in the right spots. The faceoff numbers stood out most: he went 11-for-14 against legitimate NHL centres, a notable step for a player who has been a career 46.1 percent guy on draws.
That kind of improvement matters because it gives Vancouver another way to control the puck, and this team is going to need every bit of control it can get. Pettersson also scored the goal that tied the game after Jonathan Lekkerimäki slipped a terrific little pass through a defender’s legs. Pettersson deked and beat Joey Daccord, then later drew another penalty and found himself in a bit of a scrap after laying out Shane Wright and getting challenged by Ryan Winterton.
It was the sort of night that showed Pettersson wasn’t drifting through the preseason. He was involved, competitive and making things happen.
Zeev Buium also gave the Canucks something to chew on. He scored on the second power-play unit after Tom Willander protected the puck on the zone entry, found Linus Karlsson, and saw Karlsson feed Buium at the back door. Buium finished the play cleanly and lifted the puck over Daccord to tie the game.
That was the kind of moment that gets attention. It wasn’t a perfect night for the young defenceman - he was also part of the defensive breakdown on Seattle’s third goal, when the Kraken turned a 2-on-1 into a score. So no one is handing out medals after one preseason game.
Still, Buium showed enough to matter. He was comfortable with the puck, willing to join the rush and confident enough to earn power-play trust.
Lekkerimäki, too, had his fingerprints on the win. After a quiet first period, he came alive and offered a glimpse of what he could look like in a top-six role.
The Canucks still have roster decisions to make before opening night, but this was a solid way to close camp. Preseason results don’t count in the standings. They do count in the room, and Saturday night gave Malhotra and his staff a few things worth remembering.
In Other News...
Kraken Opening Night Just Created Two Early Forward Opportunities
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Samoskevichs situation appears to be the more immediate one to watch, since he is day-to-day and the team has a back-to-back coming up. OBriens timeline is longer, and Seattle will have to manage around that absence while the roster gets through the first stretch of the schedule, making these early days a useful test of how the Kraken handle both short-term uncertainty and the next man up mindset. [Read more 🡒]
Jared McCann Could Change Seattles Top Line In A Big Way
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Lane Lambert singled out McCanns speed and importance after the first day of camp, and the setup around him is starting to take shape. McCann is expected to skate on Seattles top line with Matty Beniers and Mackie Samoskevich, though Samoskevich is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body issue, leaving the Kraken to sort out how quickly that trio can actually get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Fans Just Got A Much Easier Way To Watch This Season
The Kraken are making it easier for fans across the Pacific Northwest to follow the team this season, with a regional broadcast setup that reaches homes on local television and streaming alike. Games will air on Seattle stations such as KONG and KING 5, along with other regional outlets, and will also be available through Prime Video, giving viewers a broader menu than the old grab-and-go scramble to find a channel.
The coverage plan also keeps familiar voices in place, with John Forslund handling play-by-play and JT Brown working alongside him as analyst. Add in the iHeart Kraken Audio Network and a weekly show on KING 5, and the organization is clearly trying to make sure the action is easy to find whether fans want the full TV experience, a radio call on the move, or a regular local wrap-up. [Read more 🡒]