#Canucks slay the Kraken and end their road trip on a W 🙌@BudweiserCanada
HIGHLIGHTS | https://t.co/3eMpe6CL8i pic.twitter.com/xQBr86Hyrp— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 24, 2021
The National Hockey League’s newest rivalry in the Pacific Northwest got off to a hot start Saturday night. With the Vancouver Canucks winning the first-ever NHL game in the Seattle Kraken’s Climate Pledge Arena by a score of 4-2. Kraken defenceman Vince Dunn scored the first-ever Kraken home goal and the first-ever NHL goal in Climate Pledge Arena. Canucks’ captain Bo Horvat had the first-ever multi-goal game in Seattle’s home arena. Then everyone’s favourite angry little elf Connor Garland scored the game-winning goal in the third period.
The game started with a very cool and long pre-game ceremony to mark the opening of Climate Pledge Arena and introduce the NHL’s 32nd franchise, which led the team to retire the number 32. Then, the Kraken came out flying to begin the game, feeding off the energy provided by the 17,151 fans in attendance and topped off with Dunn giving the Kraken the 1-0 lead with just four seconds left in the first period!
The lead lasted until halfway into the second period, when Horvat buried a snapshot from the slot on a pass from Garland to tie the game at one. Five minutes into the third period, Kraken captain Mark Giordano gave the Kraken their second lead and his first goal of the season on a shot from a similar spot that Dunn scored from. Almost eight minutes later, Horvat capitalized on a rebound left out by Kraken goalie Phillip Grubauer to tie the game at two on the powerplay. The speedy Garland caused a turnover on a puck rolling outside the Canucks blueline, came in on a partial breakaway and slid one five-hole on Grubauer after a nice fake shot. With under five minutes to play, the Canucks took a 3-2 lead, and Justin Dowling scored on the empty net to ice the game and confirming the Canucks spoil the Kraken home opener. Suffice to say. The Pacific Northwest rivalry is off to a good start. The Canucks next game is their home opener on Tuesday night, against the Minnesota Wild at 7 pm.