*Photo from ABC News*
It was the opening night for the Seattle Kraken. Their first game at Climate Pledge Arena, the only arena in the NHL to run entirely on renewable energy sources. Fans were fired up for professional hockey in Seattle. The Vancouver Canucks ruined their night. Bo Horvat scored twice, Conor Garland scored, and the Canucks beat the Kraken 4-2 on Saturday night.
Since being traded to the Canucks in a blockbuster move over the Summer, Garland has started his time in Vancouver the right way. He has potted 3 goals and 5 assists, for a total of 8 points, and has opened the season with a 6 game point streak, so there has yet to be a game where Garland has not recorded at least one point.
Garland said of his hot start on a new team that "It's been a lot of fun for me. That power-play goal was huge, that's our captain. That's what leaders do, they go get a big goal like that. Then it was nice for me to get a chance and capitalize. It's a big-time win for our team."
With 4 seconds left in the first period, Vince Dunn scored the first home goal for the Kraken, making it 1-0 after one period. In the second period, Canucks captain Bo Horvat scored 11:09 into the period, off an assist from Garland, tying the game 1-1 on his second goal of the season.
In the 3rd period, Kraken captain Mark Giordano scored 5:09 into the period, giving Seattle a 2-1 lead. 12:52 into the 3rd, Horvat scored his second goal of the night, tying the game 2-2. At the 15:58 mark, Garland scored the game winning goal to put the Canucks ahead 3-2. Justin Dowling added another goal to make it a 4-2 Canucks lead.
Horvat said of the come from behind win that "You want to play a full 60 minutes and maybe not get down in the third period and have to claw our way back. It just shows we have resilience in the room and guys stepped up at different times. Garland scored the game-winner there and came up big for us so just overall happy to get that one."
Thatcher Demko got the start in goal for the Canucks and picked up the win. Demko saved 29 out of 31 shots he faced from the Kraken, posting a .935 save percentage. With the win, Demko improved to a strong 3-1-1 record this season.
For the Kraken, it was Philipp Grubauer who started, and he got hit with the loss. Grubauer saved 22 out of 25 shots the Canucks sent his way, posting a .880 save percentage, With the loss, Grubauer saw his record drop to 1-3-1 this season.
Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said of the loss that "It's probably our best 60 minutes of the year. Pretty even first and I thought we were able to tilt the ice a little bit in the second period, which you want to be able to do against a team that's at the end of a road trip. I like the way we played in the third. Obviously taking a penalty at a tough time against a good power play hurt us. And then the one bounce of the game went their way on the game-winner."
The Kraken return to action on Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens, with Grubauer likely to start. The Canucks host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, with Demko figuring to start.
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