Vancouver Canucks Lose to Seattle Kraken in a Shootout
The Vancouver Canucks didn’t lose this game because they stopped competing. They lost it because the game demanded precision, and they only found it in stretches. The 4–3 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken left them with a point, but also with the familiar feeling that the night could have tilted differently if a few details had been handled better.
The defining moment came in the shootout, when Matty Beniers beat Thatcher Demko with a calm deke after five scoreless rounds. Shootouts are a cruel way to settle games, but they’re also honest in their own way. One clean move. One finish. Seattle had it. Vancouver didn’t.
The Canucks Showed Pushback, Just Couldn’t Finish the Deal
Before that, the Canucks showed real pushback. Linus Karlsson tied the game early in the third period, just hours after signing a two-year extension, and played like someone determined to justify the investment. Jake DeBrusk, scratched in Seattle earlier in the week, responded with a goal and two assists — his most assertive game of the season and a reminder of how much Vancouver needs him engaged.
But the game tilted earlier, quietly. Missed chances — including a shorthanded 2-on-0 that produced nothing — loomed larger as the night went on. Seattle didn’t overwhelm Vancouver. They capitalized when openings appeared. Ben Meyers’ late second-period goal restored a two-goal lead at a moment when structure mattered most, and Vancouver spent the rest of the game trying to recover ground.
Thatcher Demko gave the Canucks every chance to win, stopping 25 shots and holding steady through overtime. But this was another night where effort alone wasn’t enough to bend the result.
Closing Thoughts: A Familiar Canucks’ Patterns and Growing Urgency
From a Canadian standpoint, this was a night that reinforced the same uncomfortable truth: competitiveness without consistency only gets you so far. The Canucks earned a point, but they didn’t ease the pressure. These are the games that accumulate quietly in the standings — not disasters, not breakthroughs, just reminders that margins are thin and patience is running out.
The fight is there. The execution still comes and goes. And as the calendar turns, those missed details are starting to matter more than intentions ever could.