Scenes from morning skate: Lankinen starts, Myers sits again for Canucks vs. Kraken
The Canucks have dropped four straight (0-2-2) since their last victory on January 29 against the Anaheim Ducks.
What we saw
Kevin Lankinen is the first #Canucks goaltender off of the ice and is your projected starter Saturday vs. Kraken.
The only change will come in goal, where Kevin Lankinen makes his first start since a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on February 4. Lankinen represented Finland at the Olympics, but did not see any game action. So it has been more than three weeks since he last participated in a game at any level. Lankinen is 7-19-4 on the season with a 3.67 GAA and an .876% save percentage. His last win came against the Washington Capitals on January 21. He has dropped his last five starts all in regulation time.
Vancouver has scored exactly two goals in each of its past seven games (1-4-2). The club is 0-8 on the road since a 3-2 shootout victory the last time it was in Seattle on December 29. The club’s last regulation-time road win was December 19 against the New York Islanders.
The Canucks are 2-14-4 in their last 20 games, getting outscored 82-41 in the process.
Drew O’Connor will appear in his 300th NHL game tonight. There is something about Seattle that seems to bring out the best in Conor Garland. The veteran winger leads all Canucks with six goals and 14 points in 16 career games against the Kraken.
#Canucks at practice Friday
Kane-EP40-DeBrusk
Öhgren-Blueger-Garland
O’Connor-Rossi-Boeser
Höglander-Kämpf-Karlsson
(Sasson-Räty)
EP25-Hronek
MP29-Willander
Buium-Joseph
The Opponent
Kraken lines and pairs from morning skate⬇️
McCann-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Catton-Wright-Kakko
Meyers-Gaudreau-Melanson
Dunn-Larsson
Oleksiak-Montour
Evans-Fleury
Daccord (starter)
Grubauer
Good morning from @ClimateArena, where our @SeattleKraken are on the ice for morning skate.
Eeli Tolvanen and Josh Mahura on the ice first this morning ahead of tonight’s game against Vancouver.
#SeaKraken #SeattleKraken
Tonight is the Kraken’s only home game of February and its first on home ice since a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 29. Seattle has won three straight and four of five in the Emerald City.
Jordan Eberle leads the Kraken with 20 goals, while Jared McCann is second on the team with 16 goals in just 33 games played. Eberle is the team’s top point producer with 38 on the season, while Matty Beniers has 37 points and Chandler Stephenson has 36.
The Kraken own the best 5-on-5 save percentage in the NHL this season at .928%. Overall, Seattle owns the fifth-best save percentage in the league at .901% behind Colorado, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders.
Seattle sits 31st in the NHL on the penalty kill at 71.4%. The only team behind the Kraken? The Canucks at 71.1%.
News and notes
This is the third meeting of the season between these teams. The clubs have split shootout wins on the road. The Canucks were 3-2 winners in Seattle on December 29, while the Kraken returned the favour with a 4-3 victory a few nights later on January 2. The teams will face off one more time on March 14 at Rogers Arena.
The referees for tonight’s game are Trevor Hanson and Peter MacDougall.
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