As the final seconds ticked away in the NHL’s Winter Classic, the 47,313 in attendance at T-Mobile Park were chanting, “Jo-ey, Jo-ey.”
With good reason.
Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord made 35 saves in defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday, the first shutout in the league’s premier outdoor event — which has been played 15 times.
“I think it was a special day for everybody. For our team, for our city, for hockey,” said Daccord, who was named the game’s MVP. “It was an incredible day and just so grateful to be a part of it. It was really special, and it was a huge win for our group. That’s a good team over there. It’s a big two points. And at the same time, it’s something I’ll never forget, and it’s one of the coolest days of my whole life.”
Daccord and the Kraken will head back indoors when they play host to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Senators, incidentally, selected Daccord in the seventh round of the 2015 draft out and he played nine games for them after a standout career at Arizona State before being picked by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft.
Filling in for the injured Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Daccord has been the catalyst for the Kraken’s franchise-record, nine-game points streak (7-0-2). The Kraken have won five games in a row to get over hockey’s version of .500 (15-14-9) for the first time this season.
Daccord posted his first NHL shutout on Dec. 12 against Florida, then followed that up three weeks later against the Golden Knights.
“You always talk about goalies and what a really good goalie is and the best way to describe it is he saves the ones he needs to and then he saves one or two more that he shouldn’t save,” Kraken forward Matty Beniers said, referring to Daccord. “And that’s what he’s done for us basically every game.”
The Kraken’s point streak came on the heels of an eight-game skid (0-6-2).
“It’s a thin line between winning and losing,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s no major differences in our game. But it’s a pretty good formula (Monday). We scored early and didn’t have to chase the game. Key saves at the right time. It’s a bunch of little things that add up.”
The Kraken lost 2-0 in Ottawa on Dec. 2 despite firing 39 shots on goal, with the Senators’ Anton Forsberg stopping all of them.
The Senators have since changed coaches, with Jacques Martin taking over on an interim basis, but remain in last place in the Eastern Conference.
Ottawa opened a five-game trip with a 6-3 loss Tuesday in Vancouver.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals and Claude Giroux had a goal and assist for the Senators, who couldn’t overcome a 5-0 first-period deficit.
“It was, to me, a lesson learned about how hard you have to compete, how hard you have to play,” Martin said. “We just need to do things quicker. We need to be harder on pucks and it’s not one or two players.”
–Field Level Media
