Kraken pull off stunning rally to top Canucks 5-4 in overtime
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Rivalries in sports are built on a foundation of contempt.
Proximity helps, as does frequency. But ultimately creating the kind of passionate conflicts that start with players and coaches and trickle down through a fan base starts with playing meaningful games with something on the line.
Someday, that’ll happen for the Kraken and the team that’s tailor made to be their rival, the Canucks. At least, that’s the hope when two teams in the same region are separated by just a couple of hours and the border.
Maybe what happened Saturday will be looked back upon as a moment that helped the rivalry spark, when the home team watched a three-goal lead disappear in the final 5 minutes of regulation, gave up a breakaway game-winner in overtime and left Rogers Arena echoing with faint chants of “Let’s Go Kraken.”
“That’s the fun part about hockey is every game is different and you never know what’s going to happen,” said Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz. “But it’s good to have the belief you can still come back and win games.”
The Kraken snapped their five-game losing streak with a 5-4 overtime win over the Canucks on Saturday that showed a different level of resolve from a team that was desperate for something to go their way.
Along the way, the Kraken made NHL history, becoming only the third team in a regular-season game to win by rallying from a three-goal deficit inside the final 5 minutes. The only other teams: San Jose earlier this season against Utah and Montreal in 2014 against Ottawa.
“I think we’re searching for it. I think at different times in the year we’ve had the mindset of staying with it for 60 minutes, coming back in hockey games and we’ve done that a handful of other times,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “But at this point in time, after the break, after the (five) losses coming into this break it was a huge test for the team to get down in this game … Guys stayed with it, guys dug deep as a group and the confidence the result should give us as a team.”
The Kraken rally came off the sticks of Schwartz and Vince Dunn, who combined for all four goals that spanned just 7 minutes of ice time.
Schwartz got it started banking a shot past Thatcher Demko from the goal line with 4:45 left to pull within 4-2. That gave Bylsma the impetus to pull Philipp Grubauer and create a 6-on-5 advantage for Seattle.
That move paid off when Dunn collected a turnover and beat Demko with 1:12 remaining.
“I think they definitely felt the pressure when we just kept coming after them wave after wave, line after line,” Dunn said. “There wasn’t necessarily any systematic things that we changed at all. It was just finally committing to each other and playing the right way.”
Schwartz ensured the Kraken would get a point when he deftly controlled a rebound with his skate and beat Demko with 48 seconds left to tie the game at 4-4. It was also his 500th career NHL point.
“We were a bit frustrated just with our execution and stuff, but we wanted to give ourselves a chance to at least pull the goalie and make it a one- or two-goal game and then you have your opportunity,” Schwartz said.
The game-winner came from Dunn, 2:15 into the extra session on a breakaway. A turnover by Vancouver left Dunn all alone with Chandler Stephenson trailing behind. Dunn went to the same spot he beat Demko in regulation and the ensuing celebration just so happened to end up right on the Canucks logo at center ice.
“Honestly, it was kind of a blackout. I don’t think I’ve ever had a breakaway in my life. I saw Chandler behind me and I’m like, ‘Maybe this will be a little easier, maybe I’ll just drop it to him,’” Dunn said. “But then he said, ‘It’s all you,’ so then the pressure was on me.”
It may not be the kind of game and result that lights a fire under what’s been an underwhelming rivalry between to the two neighbors to date. That will come when the day arrives that they are meeting in the Stanley Cup playoffs or at the very least fighting for a postseason spot.
But it’s a little something at a time the Kraken desperately needed a result to go their way.
The Kraken (16-19-2) pulled within eight points of the Canucks in the Western Conference standings where Vancouver holds one of the two wild-card playoff spots.
For most of the afternoon, the gulf in the standings seemed to show on the ice. At times, the Kraken were too passive and too disorganized defensively and led to easy opportunities for Vancouver. Brock Boeser scored twice and Jake DeBrusk scored early in the third period to give the Canucks a 4-1 lead.
At that point, it seemed Vancouver would dictate whatever the final score would be. Dakota Joshua had a goal disallowed almost immediately after DeBrusk scored. It was the break the Kraken needed in order to put together the wild rally at the end.
“It was just a crazy game. First game out of Christmas, the execution wasn’t great for both teams and everyone was probably a little bit in shock,” Schwartz said. “It happened so fast, there’s a lot goals in a short amount of time. I think it was a lot of emotions but we’re happy with the two points.”