With six home games stretched out over a sixteen day period, would there be any reason for the Seattle Kraken to feel obligated to give current back-up goalie Joey Daccord a start? Not really. Not with Martin Jones playing the way he’s been playing.
Unless the club expects original number-one Philipp Grubauer’s injured reserve situation to drag on, there’s really no reason to give Daccord a nod.
A team generally goes with the guy who gives them the best chance to win and with plenty of ample rest available between starts over the next two weeks, there’s no reason not to ride “Jonesy”.
The six-game Seattle Kraken homestand opens tomorrow (Tuesday) night against the Nashville Predators and runs through November 23rd.
“For me Jonesy’s been right since day one of camp,” Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said Monday. “I think there was one game in the mix here where if you asked him about it he’d say, ‘hey, I’d have liked to have been a little bit better’.
That one game was the home opener at the Climate Pledge Arena on October 15th against the Vegas Golden Knights when Jones allowed a couple of tough second period goals, one from a tough angle to Jonathan Marchessault and one from Shea Theodore in the high slot. “Ones he’d like to have back” as they say.
Since then he’s been a wall for the most part. Other than the Vancouver Canucks scoring two power play goals and taking advantage of three fortuitous bounces on October 27th in their 5-4 win, Jones has been outstanding. Over his four other most recent games, his save percentage has been 96.4% and his goals against average 1.00. That includes a shut-out last Thursday against the MInnesota Wild.
Happy Kraken Jones
Jones is happy in Seattle. He mentioned to Seattle Hockey Insider on Monday that he’s pleased to be able to compete, to play a substantial role, and to be near his hometown of North Vancouver, BC. He’s a big, 6-4, 203-pound goalie, a veteran of some serious NHL playoff runs, and presently full of confidence.
“He’s had that calming presence for our group,” Hakstol added. “In some of the wins as of late, it’s been about that timely save, he’s provided that for us. Making all of the saves you’re supposed to, but the timely big save has been there for him and that’s provided a lot for our group.”
The 32-year-old netminder understands the highs and lows and has been improving this season as his workload has increased.
In the coming days he’ll likely be given every opportunity to see that phenomenon continue.
