George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers saw their three-game wining streak end with a thud on Sunday night with a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle, coming off a win the night before in Vancouver, scored three goals in the first period and killed off a long 5-on-3 power play in the second to get the win and keep their playoff run going.
With the win, the Kraken passed the San Jose Sharks to take the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Panthers remain 11 points out in the East despite having just two fewer points than the Kraken.
Florida will play three more games out west in a four-game span starting Tuesday in Vancouver before doing the Edmonton/Calgary double-dip on Thursday and Friday.
Vinnie Hinostroza scored for the Panthers at 12:07 of the first to pull Florida within a goal. Seattle did score on a Ryan Heatherton goal with 1:34 left in the period and the Kraken led 3-1 going into the second.
The Kraken only added on from there.
Eetu Luostarinen scored Florida’s second goal just before the final horn sounded.
Joey Daccord made 21 saves for the win; Daniil Tarasov took the loss with 19 stops.
HOW THEY SCORED
- Kraken 1, Panthers 0 (5:28 1st): A point shot through traffic bangs off a few players battling down low including Ben Meyers.
- Kraken 2, Panthers 0 (11:52 1st): Berkly Catton picks up a rebound that Daniil Tarasov initially stopped and scored.
- Kraken 2, Panthers 1 (12:07 1st): The Panthers come down on the rush, Luke Kunin finding Vinnie Hinostroza for his second goal since rejoining the team at the trade deadline.
- Kraken 3, Panthers 1 (18:26 1st): Ryan Weatherton finds the puck behind Tarasov after Meyer’s one-timer off a pass from Brandon Montour rung off the cage.
- Kraken 4, Panthers 1 (3:20 2nd): A Panthers turnover deep in the zone leads to Kaapo Kakko driving around the net and slipping the puck past Tarasov.
- Kraken 5, Panthers 1 (10:07 3rd PP): Bobby McMann fires one in off the post from the slot.
- Kraken 6, Panthers 1 (14:37 3rd): Jamie Olesiak scores from right in front.
- Kraken 6, Panthers 2 (19:58 3rd): Eetu Luostarinen beats the buzzer.
FHN’S 3 STARS
- 1. Joey Daccord, Seattle
- 2. Kaapo Kakko, Seattle
- 3. Berkly Catton, Seattle
ON DECK: GAME 67
FLORIDA PANTHERS at VANCOUVER CANUCKS
- When: Tuesday, 10 p.m.
- Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 8, Canucks 5 (Nov. 17). At Vancouver: Tuesday.
- Last Season: Canucks Won 2-0.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Vancouver leads 21-14-4, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Edmonton Oilers, 9 p.m.