In Thursday’s Seattle Kraken season-opener at Climate Pledge Arena, the Anaheim Ducks won the possession battle. The Anaheim Ducks dominated early shots on goal. The Anaheim Ducks did not win the hockey game, a 3-1 Seattle victory.
For the first time in their five-year history, the Kraken won a home opener – which this year doubled as the curtain-raiser on the 2025-26 season. The Ducks simply had no answer for Brandon Montour (4 shots, 3 blocks, 4 hits, one magnificent assist), Joey Daccord (35 saves, a bunch spectacular), and defensive forward Ryan Winterton, five hits and a driver at both ends of the ice.
Vince Dunn, Mason Marchment, and Jared McCann, one goal each in the first five minutes of each period, led the Kraken offense. By the late stages of the 3rd period, fans erupted into spontaneous Jo-ey, Jo-ey chants.
1st Period
Eeli Tolvanen won’t draw an assist on the first Kraken goal of the season, but he deserved one. As Jaden Schwartz fed Adam Larsson who who fed d-partner Vince Dunn at the top of the umbrella, Tolvanen planted himself in front of the Anaheim net. Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal couldn’t see as Dunn from the upper left circle wired a wrister past him for a 1-0 lead at 2:21.
Seattle gets to enjoy the lead for a little less than two minutes. Beckett Sennecke, once a 3rd overall draft pick by the Ducks, deflects home the tying goal – his first in the NHL – to fashion a 1-1 tie.
Nonetheless, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord has continued his outstanding play from pre-season, as the visitors have built an 11-2 SOG advantage halfway through the period.
Daccord, who’s lost his stick, seems to have the puck trapped under his pad at the goal line, until defenseman Olen Zellweger uses his stick to dislodge the puck over that line. At first, referees rule the play a goal. Joey, who doesn’t often argue, protests the non-whistle. And wins the argument, as an officials huddle results in a no-goal call.
Shots finish 17-5 Anaheim. Either the Kraken are really trying to help Joey Daccord impress team USA officials in their Winter Olympics selections, or new coach Lane Lambert’s defensive systems haven’t been fully implemented. Six different Ducks have multiple shots, led by Zellweger’s three.
Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Speaking of treys: newcomer Seattle defenseman Ryan Lindgren did what he does, blocking three shots. The surprising leader in Kraken hits? Shane Wright with three. Brandon Montour had more shots (3) than the rest of the Kraken skaters combined (2).
2nd Period
“We’re a little soft with the puck,” Dunn says in an intermission interview. Even if we knew what Lambert said to his team between periods, we probably couldn’t print it.
On the Kraken health front, three defensemen who missed pre-season time are playing tonight: Dunn, Montour, and Lindgren. Ryker Evans remains out, as does forward Kaapo Kakko.
Puck possession continues to favor Anaheim in a lopsided way. And yet… a brilliant d-zone stick by Montour strips Troy Terry of the puck. A man possessed, Montour shrugs off Terry in the Kraken offensive zone. Trade acquisition Mason Marchment, who knows a good thing when he sees it, trails the play into the slot, where Montour finds him for an electrifying bang-bang goal and a 2-1 Kraken lead at 3:50. Dostal had no help and no chance.
It’s not all goal cellys, Beckett Sennecke. A big hit from the big rig, Jamie Oleksiak, separates the rookie from the puck. Then a dogged Matty Beniers pickpockets Cutter Gauthier, who retaliates with a slash as Beniers heads up ice. Even though the power play doesn’t yield a goal, what follows is the first sustained offensive-zone pressure for Seattle – enough that they’re able to change forward lines – to the cheers of the CPA sellout.
Ryan Winterton makes a key block on a high-danger chance, but Oleksiak is called for interference. Winterton makes a diving clear to help kill the penalty. As it ends, Daccord makes a sparkling save on Alex Killorn. Daccord is up to 28 (!) saves. Just out of the box, Oleksiak sets up Lindgren – a PK specialist but not an offensive threat – whose breakaway is stopped by Dostal, who closes the 5-hole.
3rd Period
Through 40, Tye Kartye, Tolvanen and Wright each have four of Seattle’s 35 hits. Shots are 29-16 Anaheim.
Winterton continues to be a defensive beast, back-checking to prevent a scoring chance. At the offensive end, his strong skating causes Frank Vatrano to take an interference penalty.
Anaheim gets lax in its own zone, and the Kraken pounce. Captain Jordan Eberle, like the 16-year NHL veteran he is, alertly dumps the puck cross-rink into an empty far corner. Beniers wins the race, chipping the puck in front, where an unchecked Jared McCann gives the Kraken a 3-1 lead at 4:25. Goalie Dostal could sue his skaters for non-support.
New Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville, who you can read more about here, replaced Dostal for a sixth skater with three minutes left. By that point, Seattle had almost pulled even in SOGs. The defense stiffened in front of Daccord, and nothing remained but celebratory hugs at the final horn as the crowd roared.
Up Next
The Kraken’s brief season-opening homestand concludes Saturday, when the Vegas Golden Knights come to CPA. Vegas lost its season-opener at home in a shootout to the Kings, then beat the Sharks in OT on Thursday.