Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken opened a six-game homestand with a 5-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Vince Dunn and Matty Beniers also were credited with goals for Seattle, which snapped a two-game skid. Goaltender Joey Daccord made 27 saves. Daccord nearly scored into an empty net, but his attempt rolled just wide left of the net.
Liam Ohgren scored and Kevin Lankinen stopped 20 of 24 shots for the Canucks, who have lost five in a row and are 2-15-4 in their past 21 games.
It appeared Eberle completed a hat trick with an empty-netter at 17:00 of the third period, with headwear raining down on the ice.
But fans were unaware the official scorer had changed Eberle’s apparent power-play goal at 11:56 of the period and gave the goal to Beniers, as Eberle’s stuff shot glanced off the toe of Beniers’ skate.
The Kraken opened the scoring at 7:36 of the first period as Dunn took a pass from Stephenson and put a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past a screened Lankinen.
Stephenson doubled the advantage at 10:20 of the period. Adam Larsson’s shot from the left point deflected off the back of the leg of Vancouver’s Marcus Pettersson as he tried to clear traffic from the top of the crease and the puck fell to Stephenson, who swiped it into the open left side of the net.
The Canucks got on the scoreboard at 8:28 of the second as Ohgren’s turnaround slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat a screened Daccord.
The Kraken restored their two-goal at 13:47 of the second as Eberle blocked defenseman Elias Pettersson’s shot from the left point and raced down ice on a breakaway, lifting a backhander past Lankinen.
The Canucks, in last place in the league’s overall standings, sat defenseman Tyler Myers for a second straight game for roster management purposes as he’s likely to be dealt before Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
