Sound goaltending from Joey Daccord and solid all around play from the entire Kraken line-up led to yet another victory for Seattle, this time 4-1 over the visiting Ottawa Senators. The unbeaten-in-regulation streak is now at a franchise record ten games, with the win streak at six.
1st Period
The officials pulled the whistles out early and often in this one. Josh Norris of the Senators went off for high sticking Kraken D-man Will Borgen just 17-seconds into the game. The Seattle power play didn’t click.
Ottawa then had back-to-back opportunities, but Kraken goalie Joey Daccord closed the door, making seven saves after Adam Larsson went off for interference and Jared McCann sat down for tripping.
It set the stage for Yanni Gourde’s even strength goal at 9:50, his second tally in as many games after going 17 without one. NHL All-Star Oliver Bjorkstrand — the teams for the February game in Toronto were announced Thursday — created a turnover on the forecheck in the Senators zone, leading to quick pressure, an Eeli Tolvanen shot from the right circle, and Gourde cashing in on the rebound.
The Kraken would have a carry-over power play at the end of the period.
1-0 Seattle
2nd Period
The carry-over power play fell short.
All eyeballs were on Daccord during the 2nd period, which began with the 27-year-old netminder having surpassed Martin Jones’s franchise record for a shut-out streak.
Daccord passed Jones’s mark of 1:15:18 during the first period and kept adding to it. The last goal scored against Daccord entering this game was Travis Konecny’s for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1st period on December 29th, one that actually went in off Dunn’s foot.
There were some difficult saves among the 13 shots the Senators fired in the period.
Late in the stanza the Kraken capitalized on a Senators neutral zone turnover. Jordan Eberle and Vince Dunn quickly counter-attacked and found Tomas Tatar heading to the net alone. With an absolutely filthy move, Tatar undressed Korpisalo with a deke move at 15:20.
With just less than a minute remaining in the period, the Kraken would score off the rush. Kailer Yamamoto cruised into the Ottawa zone and found Andre Burakovsky streaking to the middle. The big winger, in his third game back from extended injury, buried one inside Korpisalo’s blocker-side post.
3-0 Seattle
3rd Period
Seattle D-man Brian Dumoulin went off for high sticking at 4:30 and Ottawa came as close as the goal post to beating Daccord. Nothing doing.
It would take a ton of sustained traffic and a series of point shots at even strength to sneak one past the Kraken goalie. That’s exactly what happened on a Parker Kelly shot at the 12:20 mark. The puck pinballed through bodies past Daccord.
The Senators pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with four minutes to play. Vince Dunn scored a 190-foot empty netter for the final tally.
Shots on goal finished up 32-28 in favor of the Senators. Power plays: Ottawa 0-for-4, Seattle 0-for-2.
Kraken 3 Stars:
1) Joey Daccord – Another victory for the 27-year-old. 31 saves.
2) Vince Dunn – Despite less ice time than usual, a empty net goal and an assist. Three shots on goal.
3) Tomas Tatar – His nifty goal on a breakaway blew the roof off the building.
Recent Kraken:
— The Peaks And Valleys Of Kraken’s Justin Schultz
