VANCOUVER, B.C. — Watching Kraken wing prospect Jani Nyman notch his team-leading fourth preseason goal with Friday night’s game barely two minutes old underscored the importance of this contest for young hopefuls.
We’re now two-thirds done with exhibition games and the chance for prospects such as Nyman and teenager Berkly Catton to show they can stick once the Kraken start playing for real. Nyman continued to do his part in this 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena while Catton, playing a rare game on left wing instead of his usual center spot, was creating plenty of action early and often.
Defensive prospect Tyson Jugnauth added a second period goal – his first ever wearing an NHL uniform – on a nice pass from behind the net by Ryan Winterton, who is yet another Kraken AHL prospect forward hoping to break camp with the squad. That put the Kraken up by a pair and it took the Canucks needed almost half a game to put a puck behind goalie Matt Murray but finally did when Braeden Cootes redirected a Jonathan Lekkerimaki blast from the left point to cut the Kraken lead to one.
But Murray couldn’t stop an opening minute point blast by Filip Hronek in the third period that traveled through a heavy screen to tie it up 2-2. Then, with 7:28 to go in regulation, Jake DeBrusk jammed home a loose puck to put Vancouver ahead for the first time.
Evander Kane scored on an empty net with Murray pulled for an extra attacker to seal it in the final two minutes.
Murray went the distance and nearly pulled one out for the Kraken, stopping 33 of 36 shots, including a Lekkerimaki breakaway attempt late in the second. He then made several acrobatic stops during a third period Canucks power play to keep things even until DeBrusk delivered.
As for Nyman, 21, he’d opened the scoring just 2:19 into the contest by redirecting a Lukas Dragicevic shot from the right point past netminder Kevin Lankinen. Nyman’s fourth goal in three preseason games and his second positioned in a dangerous area near the net front continued to give the Kraken plenty to think about regarding the 6-foot-2, 212-pound winger.