Cootes line shines as Canucks beat Kraken 4-2

1-0 Kraken.

With about five minutes to go in the first, the Kane-Cootes-Lekkerimäki turned in a solid shift, highlighted by Lekkerimäki hunting the puck down with a strong effort along the wall and helping to extend their time in the offensive zone.

It was a tough period for Vitali Kravtsov, who took a penalty to give the Kraken the game’s first power play. Lankinen made his best save of the period when he flashed the right pad to stop a one-timer chance as the Canucks killed off the Kravtsov penalty.

All in all, it was not a good first period from a veteran-looking Canucks group up against a much worse Kraken team that simply outworked them on multiple occasions. The Pettersson line had some decent looks though:

Some takeaways from the first period:

-Why does Jani Nyman look like Connor McDavid?
-Liked some things from the Pettersson line. I’ve had my doubts about what that trio will be able to do, but tonight was a solid start.
-Think I’ve seen enough of Vitali Kravtsov for now.

Second Period

At the conclusion of an Aatu Räty holding penalty, Braeden Cootes helped jumpstart a Canucks rush that ended with Filip Hronek ripping a shot off the crossbar.

The Canucks started stacking shifts on the Kraken after this, and Evander Kane made a nice pass from below the goal line to Elias Pettersson, who couldn’t quite beat Matt Murray.

Of course, that amounted to nothing because once again, Vitali Kravtsov was late to his defensive assignment, and it cost the Canucks a goal.

Not to pin it all on Kravtsov — Willander was also bad on this shift — but this seems like the kind of thing that will hold him back from succeeding at the NHL level.

The Canucks got on the board after another strong shift from the Cootes line. Jonathan Lekkerimäki looked poised on yet another shift, and this time it ended in a goal… the first of the preseason for Cootes!

Nice play from Kirill Kudryavtsev on this goal as well!

In the final seconds of the period, Lekkerimäki picked off a pass at the Seattle blue line and moved in on a breakaway that Murray turned aside.

Some takeaways from the second:

-Nice to see Braeden Cootes get an opportunity to kill penalties tonight.
-This is the best Jonathan Lekkerimäki has looked since camp started.
-I’m really starting to think Braeden Cootes might make this roster.

Third Period

The third period started with a bang as Elias Pettersson provided a screen for a Filip Hronek slap shot that found its way past Matt Murray to tie this game up.

2-2. 

The Cootes line kept cooking, and if this were The Stanchies, we’d have six different GIFs showing you how well all three members of that line played. Cootes and Lekkerimäki played with speed and poise, and Kane was certainly a welcome presence on that line.

The Canucks got a good opportunity to get some work in for what will likely be their opening night first power play unit… and it went… relatively well! They didn’t struggle to gain the zone, snapped the puck around with speed and poise, and basically all five guys found themselves with a solid scoring opportunity. Unfortunately, none of them could convert, and the game remained tied.

The Canucks got another power play opportunity after a skirmish after the whistle, giving PP1 another chance to get some reps in before the regular season. And this time, they didn’t just look good in their process… they scored! Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson played catch before Jake DeBrusk took out the trash for his first goal of the preseason.

3-2 Canucks.

Evander Kane added an empty netter to make it 4-2.

Some takeaways from the third:

-Absolutely love the snarl that Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) brings. That snow shower on Tolopilo was so dumb, and it’s nice to have defencemen eager to let the opposition know doing dumb stuff is a bad idea.
-This one was way too close, but once Kravtsov’s minutes got cut, the Canucks were more in control, as they should’ve been from the start.

What’s your instant reaction to this one?