Lankinen shaky, blown lead, and more: 3 reasons why Vancouver Canucks lost 6-3 to Seattle Kraken

The Vancouver Canucks were on the wrong end of a 6-3 decision on Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken at the Climate Pledge Arena. The loss was the second-straight for the Canucks, dropping them to a 4-5-1 mark in their last 10 games.

Pius Suter, Filip Chytil and Dakota Joshua (SHG) scored for the Vancouver Canucks. Meanwhile, Eeli Tolvanen scored twice for the Seattle Kraken, with Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Matty Beniers and Brandon Montour getting the other tallies.

Here’s a look at the three key reasons why the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.

3 reasons why Vancouver Canucks lost to Seattle Kraken

#3 Mental lapses

The Vancouver Canucks were victims of several mental lapses on Saturday night. These lapses led to misplayed pucks that ended up in the back of their net.

A great example of these lapses was Burakovsky’s opening goal. Here’s a look:

The play started with the Canucks in the offensive zone attempting to set up a play. However, a Quinn Hughes pass was bobbled at the blue line by Pius Suter. Kraken forward Shane Wright picked up the puck and took it back the other way.

The 2-on-1 rush quickly became a 3-on-2, with Burakovsky patiently streaking up the right side. Wright made a beautiful cross-ice feed, leaving the puck for Burakovsky who made no mistake in burying it in the back of the net.

The goal opened the scoring and while the Canucks came back to take the lead, the Kraken managed to flip the script on Vancouver in the end.

#2 Blown lead

The Canucks fought back to take a 3-2 lead midway through the second period on a terrific shorthanded goal from Dakota Joshua. However, that lead wouldn’t last long. The Kraken followed by scoring four unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead.

Beniers and Tolvanen scored in the second to turn the tables on the Canucks. Montour’s 11th goal of the season then added the insurance the Kraken needed in the third period to take home the two points.

#1 Lankinen Shaky

The usually reliable Kevin Lankinen was shaky for the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Lankinen surrendered five goals on 23 shots, failing to make key saves when his team needed them the most.

A good example came on the 3-2 marker from Beniers. Here’s a look at the goal:

The sequence began with a face-off win by Beniers that led to a point shot from Vince Dunn. Beniers rushed to the front of the net where he got a piece of the shot, deflecting it past Lankinen.

While it’s tough to blame the goal on Lankinen, a positionally sound goalie would have had a better chance to make the save. Instead, Lankinen looked like he was reaching for the puck, unable to track it effectively.

The Kraken scored three similar goals, taking advantage of Lankinen’s inability to track the puck. The traffic in front of the net didn’t help either. In the end, Lankinen was unable to save the Canucks on Saturday night.

The team will get a couple of days to regroup before taking on the Anaheim Ducks at home on Wednesday night.