Lammikko’s line leads Canucks to 5-2 victory over Seattle Kraken

After a very poor effort against the Anaheim Ducks, the Vancouver Canucks were determined to bounce back as the Seattle Kraken made their first official.

The Kraken sit last in the Pacific Division and have been having a bad season with only 16 wins in 52 games. Other than the anomaly that was the Vegas Golden Knights, it is normal for expansion teams to start poorly.

The Canucks won the first two meetings in Seattle and are still undefeated against their new Pacific Northwest rivals as they beat the Kraken 5-2. I guess it isn’t a rivalry yet as the Kraken still have yet to beat the Canucks. These two teams will meet once again at Rogers Arena on April 26 for the fourth and final time this season.

Pre-game notes

Here is how the Canucks lined up against the Kraken.

Changes were made to the forward group particularly in the top six as Nils Höglander, Elias Pettersson and Vasily Podkolzin were once again put together. Head coach Bruce Boudreau said morning that they are close with one another, particularly off the ice.

Kyle Burroughs was injured in the game against the Ducks and it looks like he could possibly be out for two months with broken ribs.

Nadia Popovici attended the morning skate and was at the game. She, of course, was the fan that wrote a message on her phone that let Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton know the mole on the back of his head was a sign of malignant melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Fortunately, Hamilton saw the message, got the mole checked out by a doctor and thankfully the malignant melanoma was in its early stages and was removed. Basically, Popovici saved Hamilton’s life.

Of course, Popovici sat behind the Canucks bench.