March 12, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright (51) skates against Colorado Avalanche forward Jack Drury (18) during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Image Despite a 2-6-0 record after the Olympic break, the Seattle Kraken somehow held on to the Western Conference’s second and final wild-card playoff spot.
That is, until Thursday night.
The Kraken lost 5-1 at home to Colorado, while San Jose won in Boston to send the Sharks into the postseason.
Seattle will look to regain its footing and momentum when it plays Saturday at Vancouver, the team with the fewest points in the league.
“We’re out of the playoffs right now, so hopefully we can figure it out and get back,” Kraken center Chandler Stevenson said. “Collect some points.”
This will be the fourth and final regular season meeting between the Cascadia rivals. The teams split shootout decisions on December 29 and January 2, with the Canucks winning the former 3-2 in Seattle and the Kraken winning the latter 4-3 in Vancouver.
The host Kraken won 5-1 on Feb. 28 as captain Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist, Stephenson had a goal and two assists and Joey Daccord made 27 saves.
That final matchup opened a six-game homestand for the Kraken. They posted an impressive 2-1 win over Eastern Conference leaders Carolina, but have since lost four in a row.
The Kraken allowed three first-period goals on 15 shots against Colorado, and coach Lane Lambert pulled the cord after 20 minutes.
“It wasn’t any reflection on Joey,” Lambert said. “Our team needed to raise awareness.
“No other team has scored so many goals. We need to wake up. We are doing something amazing to me. It needs to stop.”
The Kraken are still awaiting the debut of forward Bobby McMann, whom they acquired from Toronto at the March 6 NHL trade deadline. McMann’s visa paperwork is still being processed.
“It’s very disappointing right now, the uncertainty,” said Lambert, who knows McMann well from his time as a Maple Leafs assistant before joining the Kraken this season. “We traded for him to help our hockey club. It hurt our hockey team by not allowing him to help our hockey team.”
The Canucks are 2-4-2 since the Olympic break after Thursday’s 4-3 win over visiting Nashville.
Defenseman Filip Hronek equalized with 1:01 remaining as Vancouver fell behind 3-1.
“We needed this,” said Hronek, who had the assist. “We went into the game with a really good effort and somehow managed to get a point. I’m really glad we fought back and didn’t give up.”
Marco Rossi had a goal and two assists, Brock Boiser added an assist each and Nikita Tolopillo made 16 saves. They then stopped all three of Nashville’s attempts in the shootout.
Jake DeBrusk converted the shootout attempt to give the Canucks the win.
“My confidence has definitely grown,” Hronek said. “It’s really nice to get a taste of victory because it’s never fun to keep losing. I hope we can build on that.”
Canucks forward Evander Kane returned Thursday after missing one game with an upper-body injury.
–Field level media
