Joey Daccord and the Seattle Kraken returned from the Winter Classic with zero signs of a let down, using Daccord’s 32 saves while the Kraken scored three unanswered goals to cruise past the Ottawa Senators in a 4-1 victory on Thursday night before a sellout crowd at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Kraken jumped into a playoff spot, rebounding from a bleak outlook to begin December and have wins or points in a franchise-record extending ten straight games, while winning six in a row. Daccord, starting in all but one game of this run, improved to 6-0-3 in his last nine appearances.
Also in the process – he extended a franchise record shutout streak to 158:35, broken when Parker Kelly disrupted his second straight shutout bid with his third goal of the season with 7:40 left in the game.
"Would have been nicer if i got another shutout,” said Daccord, tongue firmly planted in cheek.
“But no; win’s great, and I'm happy to keep this train rolling.”
Daccord and the penalty kill had a big hand in setting the stage for Yanni Gourde’s sixth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead with 10:10 left in the first period, fresh off killing a Senators two-man advantage. Daccord turned in an array of dazzling saves, while unleashing his puck handling skils on Ottawa. At one point, Daccord took care of a clearing attempt all by himself, pitchforking a loose puck out to center ice off his backhand, lobbing it high over the Ottawa power play.
“That was a heck of a play,” said Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol. “There are certain plays that have some risk to them, that’s great skill and the right play, at the right time,”
Amazingly, Ottawa kept the game close as Joonas Korpisalo nearly matched Daccord save for save until Tomas Tatar found open ice, and completely turfed Korpisalo on a forehand deke for his fourth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead with 4:40 left in the second period.
“The Tatar goal was big for us, that settled things down,” said Hakstol.
Andre Burakovsky added his first goal of the season for a 3-0 lead, nearly a year after his last one following a frustrating string of injuries, off the rush with 57 seconds left.
Vince Dunn, who had a multi point game and owns 12 points in 11 games against Ottawa, lobbed a 190-foot empty netter with 2:13 remaining, to cap off a day where the Kraken celebrated Oliver Bjorkstrand’s first career selection to the NHL All-Star Game.
Hours before face-off, Bjorkstrand was announced as part of the Western Conference squad for the game coming up next month in Toronto. His 11 goals and 29 pointsare second on the Kraken this season.
“The bigger the game, he has the ability to raise his game,” said Hakstol.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY:
We’re about running out of supleratives on Joey Daccord. About two weeks ago, his run was in a “nice streak” category. Now it’s reached to national attention-grabbing levels. With Philipp Grubauer out for an undisclosed period after leaving an overtime loss to Tampa Bay about a month ago with a lower body ailment, Daccord’s streak hasn’t been merely stabilizing, it’s been transforming.
Daccord, who owns the top save percentage in the NHL since the Kraken began their unbeaten run, has continued to deliver tough, high-grade saves along with an ability to raise his game along with the elevated stakes (see: Winter Classic). He doesn’t just appear to exude confidence, he exudes ownership. Or, as the term is thrown around these days, "swagger."
And for the bulk of games he has been grabbing over the last month, that confidence has fueled productivity.
Just go back and remember what happened in the first period.
“Short five on three, but it was a big kill for us. I think from there after we got that, we gained a little bit of confidence,” said Daccord.
Gourde then responded with a 1-0 lead.
“We were playing downhill after that,” said Daccord.
Goaltending can be a team speedbump, or a catalyst. It’s now lit the fuse for the Kraken, who are a playoff team, and playing with confidence.