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Blueger nets 1st goal of season as Canucks thump Seattle Kraken 5-1

Vancouver visits San Jose Sharks on Saturday
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Vancouver Canucks forward Dakota Joshua (81) skates away after scoring against Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord as Alex Wennberg (21) watches during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Teddy Blueger scored his first goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway early in the first period, Sam Lafferty and Nils Hoglander scored three minutes apart in the third period, and the visiting Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Friday night.

Dakota Joshua scored on a rebound in the second period and Quinn Hughes picked up another assist to remain the top point scorer in the league as the Canucks evened the season series with their Pacific Northwest rivals.

Thatcher Demko made 23 saves and was excellent in the second period when Seattle controlled play but couldn’t get a shot past the Vancouver goalie.

Blueger gave Vancouver the early lead, taking advantage of a turnover by Seattle defenceman Justin Schultz at centre ice while on the power play and beat Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. Joshua doubled the lead at 12:07 of the second period finding himself in the right spot to tap the puck past Daccord after Conor Garland’s initial shot was saved.

Lafferty gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead at 9:43 of the third redirecting Filip Hronek’s slap shot past Daccord. Hughes picked up a secondary assist on the goal, extending his points streak to 10 straight games, the longest active streak in the league.

Hoglander scored at 12:38 and Ilya Mikheyev provided the capper at 17:30 just after a power play ended.

With a significant contingent of Canucks fans in attendance, Vancouver won for just the second time in the past five games. The Canucks went 11 of 12 games with at least a point, but losses to Calgary, Seattle and Colorado had stemmed some of Vancouver’s early momentum.

The Canucks also improved to 4-1-0 in Seattle since the Kraken joined the league.

READ MORE: J.T. Miller bringing emotional leadership to a quiet Canucks team

Seattle stumbled at its first chance to climb above the .500 mark after a sluggish start to the season. The Kraken had picked up points in five straight games.

Tye Kartye scored Seattle’s goal at 17:29 of the second period, his first goal in 15 games. Daccord made 22 saves.

Seattle lost forward Brandon Tanev to an apparent left leg injury late in the first period when he took a hit at centre ice from Hoglander and tumbled to the ice. Tanev suffered an injury to the same leg in the season opener against Vegas on an illegal hit to the head by Brett Howden that resulted in a suspension. Tanev missed about a month and returned on Nov. 13.

UP NEXT

Canucks: at San Jose on Saturday.

Kraken: at Chicago next Tuesday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Tim Booth, The Associated Press