Seattle Kraken earn 7-3 win over Vancouver Canucks in game one of Prospects Showcase
Published 9:20 pm Saturday, September 12, 2026
Game one of the Prospects Showcase featuring the Seattle Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks had a little of everything for the approximately 1,000 fans inside the Rogers Forum on Saturday (Sept. 12).
Flashes of brilliance from promising young players on both sides, plenty of defensive gaffes, a boatload of goals and a pair of fights that brought the crowd to its feet.
Seattle skated away with a 7-3 win on the back of two-goal nights from Andrei Loshko and Justin Janicke. The Kraken also got a solid night in goal from Nikke Kokko who made 27 saves for the win.
Puck drop for game one of the 2026 Prospects Showcase between @Canucks and @SeattleKraken here at @RogersForum #canucks pic.twitter.com/BZPJymZRrx
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) September 12, 2026
Janicke, who was added to the Seattle roster yesterday opened the scoring at 14:52 of the first after a beautiful set-up by Caden Price. Seattle led 1-0 after 20 minutes and Vancouver held an 8-5 shots edge after one.
Vilmer Alriksson tied the game up with a power play goal at 1:05 of the second following a nice dish by Riley Patterson, however that lead only lasted a few minutes as Price gave Seattle the lead back with at the three-minute mark. Defender Finn Kearns made it 3-1 at 10:40 following a scramble in front of Canucks goalie Alexei Medvedev.
The big man, Vilmer Alriksson, gets us going on the power play! pic.twitter.com/ZxLHSMvsCi
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026
Some of the Canucks high-end talent got involved in the game when 2026 first round pick Adam Novotny wired a shot past Kokko at 11:43 to draw within one again. Novotny, who was playing mostly with Ty Mueller and Gabe Chiarot was excellent in the second period and was one of the more noticeable Canucks forwards in the game.
One of the more frustrating sequences for the Canucks occurred after the club coughed up the puck down low and Loshko converted to make it 4-2 at 12:30. About three minutes later saw great forechecking from Braeden Cootes and Novotny lead to an opening for defender Sawyer Mynio to pinch and beat Kokko. A crowd pleasing fight between Canucks defender Joe Arntsen and Kearns that lasted about 45 seconds occurred late in the second and the period ended with the Canucks holding a 24-21 shots edge but trailing 4-3.
And that’s Adam Novotný’s first goal in a #Canucks jersey. 👏 pic.twitter.com/T9gI6qvXwg
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026
Canucks head coach Ryan Papaioannou said there was some good and bad in the contest for his club.
“Systematically we were pretty sloppy, which is to be expected, but I think competitively we have to be happy with the group,” he said. “It got away from them a little in the third, but individually there were some bright spots.”
Papaioannou said forwards Cootes and Ilya Safonov were able to create and get some offensive chances, but defensively the team had some struggles. He noted that Novotny was another player that fit in well.
that’s ✌️ for Loshko!
5-3, us pic.twitter.com/dhPy7DMiA6
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) September 13, 2026
“He drove some pucks wide and held some guys off,” he said. “And obviously the goals, but his game is about being involved with other players and it doesn’t have to all come off his stick. I think he presents himself well.”
He added that the Canucks will switch up the lines a bit tomorrow and his starting goalie is still to be determined.
Cootes agreed that the defensive zone needs some cleaning up for tomorrow.
“We had some looks and we were skating hard but we just couldn’t keep the puck out of our net,” he said. “We were a little sloppy in our D zone, which will happen the first time all together.”
Kraken head coach Derek Laxdal was impressed with the play of Janicke.
that’s another one for JJ! 🚨
7-3, us pic.twitter.com/km9RQOPmj9
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) September 13, 2026
“That’s an example to our players that when an opportunity arises, you have to take advantage of it,” he said, alluding to his recent addition to the roster for the event. “And for a guy like JJ, who wasn’t coming to a training camp or a rookie camp, he took advantage. So you never know, but it was great to see him do it. He flew in two nights ago, got in a practice and then played today – it’s a great story.”
Laxdal said he also liked Kearns stepping up to take on a more established fighter like Arntsen in enemy territory.
Ok that was an amazing fight between Arntsen and Kearns. Props to DJ for playing @Sting theme #canucks pic.twitter.com/uPyZ4Iww8f
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) September 13, 2026
“These kids have been kind of bottled up all summer and certain guys have different elements to their game and Kearnsy was drafted for that role on his junior team and that’s what Arntsen does for his team,” he said. “But if you look at Kearns he just turned 18 and is fighting a guy who is 22 – so give the kid a lot of credit. It was very entertaining for the fans.”
The two teams conclude the second annual Prospects Showcase on Sunday (Sept. 13) inside the Rogers Forum. Face-off is set for 1 p.m.