Kraken’s Matty Beniers fools Thatcher Demko, scores unreal shootout winner

Matty Beniers delivered a highlight-reel moment on Friday night, deking Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko in the shootout to secure a 4-3 win for the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena.

Beniers used a double fake to the forehand in the third round, extending the team’s point streak to seven games with a 6-0-1 run.

After a back-and-forth regulation and overtime, Beniers skated in from the left wing, faked Demko to his left, cut back, and slid the puck into the open side of the net to seal the win.

“It feels great. Obviously, we want that win, and we didn’t get the shootout win last time we played these guys (on Dec. 29), so felt good to get that, especially on a back-to-back,” Beniers said, per NHL.com. “(Penalty) kill does a great job putting us in that position to go into a shootout.”

Joey Daccord stopped all three Canucks shooters in the SO. Earlier, an overtime goal by Vince Dunn was waved off after rookie Berkly Catton was called for interference. Demko, who made 25 saves through overtime, could not recover from Beniers’ clever move.

Cale Fleury opened the scoring at 17:34 of the first period with a slapshot from the point, his first goal since his rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens in November of 2019.

“Anytime you score, it’s exciting, but it’s been a while in this league for me, so it was special,” Fleury said. “For me, it’s just trusting my abilities. I know I’m in this league for a reason. I talked with Coach too, [and] he’s just telling me to play with confidence, so when you have Coach telling you that it would be kind of rude not to.”

Chandler Stephenson added a power-play goal at 8:53 of the second, taking advantage of a failed Canucks shorthanded 2-on-0. Kiefer Sherwood brought Vancouver within one on a rebound at 13:06, but Ben Meyers restored the two-goal lead by tipping Ryan Winterton’s pass at 18:13.

Jake DeBrusk, who recorded a goal and two assists in his first multipoint game of the season, cut the lead to 3-2 on a backdoor power-play tally. Linus Karlsson, fresh off a two-year, $4.5 million extension, tied the game 3-3 at 6:15 of the third period with a backhand rebound. The Canucks are now 0-4-1 in their last five home games.

Beniers’ clutch performance pushed Seattle, now 18-14-7, forward and highlighted depth contributions from their fourth line after a 4-1 win over Nashville. Daccord’s 20 saves anchored the effort, while DeBrusk led Vancouver, now 16-20-4.

The Kraken will play the Calgary Flames next. Meanwhile, the Canucks will host the Boston Bruins in their next contest.

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