Don’t blame Joey Daccord. He feels bad enough already about Saturday’s 3-2 Seattle Kraken loss to the Florida Panthers.
True, if the Kraken goalie hadn’t been behind the net when the puck unexpectedly caromed in front of the net, Florida’s Nick Cousins would not have had a sure-thing game-winning goal.
“That was on me,” said Daccord, who was blaming himself after the game. “Late in the game, tie game, the stanchions are pretty bouncy. They stick out a lot. I should have stayed in the net.”
They stuck out sufficiently that a Panthers dump-in, which 99 times out of 100 rings around the boards right to where Daccord was waiting, instead made a shocking detour into the slot.
Cousins, as Panthers are wont to do, pounced. His backhand shot faced no opposition on its way into the net. The Kraken, once up 2-0, had fallen behind with 5:52 remaining, and could not produce a tying goal.
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When teams are going through tough stretches, like the 2-5-2 Kraken, it seems puck luck goes against them, too. That’s what this was; Daccord making a reasonable play, ending in an unreasonable result.
So we can’t agree with the goalie when he added, “I feel like I let the team down tonight.”
Uh-uh. During his last three starts, if there were a balance sheet between Daccord and the rest of the Kraken, it would show the team in arrears, not the netminder.
Holding a 3-1 lead Tuesday over the Detroit Red Wings, Seattle took four minor penalties in the first nine minutes of the third period. That lack of discipline, which led to three Wings PP goals, isn’t on Daccord.
Neither is the Kraken allowing 45 shots to the Carolina Hurricanes in a 3-2 overtime loss Thursday. Daccord’s 42 saves set a new Seattle single-game record.
Against Carolina, Seattle was held scoreless after the first period. Against Florida, Seattle didn’t score for the last 32 minutes. They created chances, they came close, but they didn’t score.
That puts an enormous amount of pressure on a goalie.
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“We just have to bear down,” was all Eeli Tolvanen, one of the two Seattle goal-scorers, could offer.
“We thought we controlled the game,” said Jared McCann, whose 4th goal of the season opened the scoring.
Coach Dave Hakstol agreed with McCann.
“I don’t believe we gave up a scoring chance (in the third period) until the bounce off the glass went in the back of the net.”
Like a veteran leader, McCann made sure to publicly have his goalie’s back.
“Proud of the way we played tonight, especially Joey. He made some huge saves for us yet again. Their last goal was a very, very lucky bounce.”
“It stinks to have a bounce like that,” Hakstol concurred.
Perhaps on their next road trip, Kraken equipment managers, along with sticks and helmets and pads, should pack as many four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, amulets, pendants, and talismans as they can get their hands on.
((Editor’s Note: They might need those items as they finish this road trip. The Kraken are 0-and-4 in their history against Monday night’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and in total have been outscored head-to-head 17 to 4))
Recent:
— Kraken Game Day 9: Continued Dominance? Daccord!
— Kraken Goalie Joey Daccord Sets Saves Record In OT Loss
