After starting off the 2022-23 campaign on a 7-game losing streak, the Vancouver Canucks finally secured their first win of the season by besting the Seattle Kraken 5-4 Thursday.
Jaden Schwartz made it interesting by drawing Seattle within one goal with 30 seconds remaining in the contest, but Vancouver was ultimately able to hold on thanks in part to J.T. Miller, who was in some pain after blocking a shot in the final moments of the game.
The win also marked Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau's 600th career NHL victory. He became the second-fastest bench boss in league history to reach the mark (1,049 games), according to Sportsnet Stats.
The Canucks held the lead on three separate occasions in the back-and-forth affair. Elias Pettersson batted home the bouncing puck early in the third period to put Vancouver up 4-3, but Conor Garland's empty-netter with 1:25 remaining in the contest ultimately stood as the game-winner.
Speedy Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, but Jamie Oleksiak and Jared McCann both lit the lamp with just over a minute left in the first period to give Seattle the early lead.
The Pacific Division rivals entered the third period tied 3-3 due to a flurry of second-period goals from Vancouver's Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko, as well as Seattle's Matty Beniers.
Neither Thatcher Demko nor Martin Jones logged a save percentage above .900 in the contest. The Kraken outshot the Canucks by a measure of 36-19.
Seattle now owns an all-time 0-5-0 record against Vancouver.
The Canucks will have a chance to start a win streak against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.