On a packed light rail home, fans fresh out of the Winter Classic gushed endlessly about Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. Somehow, his stellar season-long campaign hit a new high– a shutout performance to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights on New Year’s Day.
Thirty-five saves on thirty-five shots by number thirty-five for his second shutout in eight games and the first shutout in Winter Classic history. At the sound of the final buzzer Daccord kicked his leg in the air, overcome with pure bliss.
He knew the moment was big. A crowd of 47,313 spent the game telling him as much, chanting his name into the chilly January air.
“Today was just a special day for everybody– for the team, the city, for hockey,” Daccord said. “It was something that I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest things in my whole life.”
Donning retro regalia, marching to an outdoor rink underneath flying fish, and spinning a ‘perfect game’ at the ballpark, the Kraken’s performance was made to be etched into Seattle sports folklore. But behind the picture-perfect day was plenty of blood, sweat, and tears.
“It’s a huge win for our group. That’s a good team over there– it’s a big two points.”
Vegas had struggled leading up to the marquee event, slowly plummeting to 5-5-0 over their last ten, a sharp decline from the 10 straight wins they began the season with. Even so, the fellow expansion team had always remained a thorn in Seattle’s side– the Kraken had only beaten them once in franchise history.
But “anything before this year doesn’t matter,” head coach Dave Hakstol asserted the day prior. New year, new Kraken.
Committed, bought-in plays were had on both sides of the puck– attacking and defending. Caught on the wrong side of a two-on-one early in the first period, Vince Dunn slid out to deflect a shot from Chandler Stephenson off the tip of his blade, extending his reach as far as it would go to weaken a potentially catastrophic shot.
Forechecking on Seattle’s part forced failed zone exits for Vegas, who wilted without offensive zone action. Every skater was engaged in the effort, pressuring the Knights into repeated turnovers, dead-end passes, and lost puck battles, all frequently resulting in high danger opportunities for the home team. Seattle ended the night with control over 55.567% of the total shot quality.
“They’re a resilient team,” Jonathan Marchessault said. “We’ve got to give them credit.”
Eeli Tolvanen, the proud owner of Seattle’s first postseason and outdoor goals, found an early lead thanks to his teammates on the blueline, who fought to keep the zone while he snuck net-front for a deflection. Defenseman Will Borgen pinched up and around Keegan Kolesar to rocket a shot home for his first goal of the season. Yanni Gourde buried the Knights and broke a 16-game goal drought by way of a spectacular one-versus-one effort against Paul Cotter, forcing a turnover deep in the offensive zone and scoring five-hole.
For the first time in months– even despite their recent uptick of play, exemplified by their current franchise-best nine-game point streak– the Kraken looked reinvigorated, not just because they were sporting new tarps.
“We’re playing much faster hockey now. We’re more deliberate with the puck,” Gourde noted. “When we play like a unit of five just like we did tonight it’s hard to go through guys.”
What little slipped through the defense, Seattle trusted Daccord could handle– and he did, saving 2.27 goals above expected and thwarting Vegas’ leading scorer Jack Eichel twice. Confident he could break the shutout late, Eichel received a cross-slot pass Stephenson for a point-blank chance, only to be robbed by Daccord, who stretched into a split as he moved post-to-post for a glove save.
Eichel tilted his head to the heavens for answers, visibly frustrated, and was met with another roar from the home crowd. Not the answer he was hoping for.
“All along the game he [Daccord] was unbelievable,” Marchessault admitted after the game. “I was really impressed with his game.”
Every time Hakstol spoke leading up to the Winter Classic, his message to his skaters and his strategy relayed to the media were the same: enjoy the day, but as soon as the puck drops, lock in. That attitude turned an already special event for the Kraken into an unforgettable moment in league history.
“To have the opportunity to do this in this ballpark, in front of our own fans, and get the result that everybody wanted makes it pretty special. And that’s the best way to remember this event,” Hakstol said. “Enjoy everything that comes with it, mark the moment, but the best way to really […] enjoy this event is, at the end of the day when it’s time to drop the puck, have that focus that you need to have to get the two points.”
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