Two seasons ago, it seemed magic surrounded everything the Seattle Kraken touched, resulting in a whole lot more success than anyone expected.
It’s 2024-25, and that magic is being possessed by the league-leading Washington Capitals, Thursday visitors to Climate Pledge Arena. Deft roster construction, unreal goaltending and career years up and down the lineup have lifted the team from the other Washington.
Despite the best efforts of Kraken goalie Joey Daccord – make no mistake, they were Herculean efforts – goals by Aliaksei Protas and Ethan Frank, crushing hits by Tom Wilson and Martin Fehervary, and 22 saves from Charlie Lindgren led the Caps to a 3-0 victory over Seattle.
A quiet night for Caps winger Alex Ovechkin. He scored into an empty net with 3:28 remaining to move within 20 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record. As Washington is proving on a nightly basis, they can win whether he scores or not.
1st Period
D.C. goalie Logan Thompson and that-has-to-be-a-typo 22-2-3 record gets the night off in favor of Lindgren, seeing his first action since getting injured Jan. 10. Daccord, who’s won four of his past five decisions, starts his fifth consecutive game for Seattle. He’s backed up by Philipp Grubauer, drafted by Washington in 2010 and won a Stanley Cup there in 2018.
Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary didn’t score at 4:06. Sure, he put a puck into the net over Daccord’s shoulder, but the score was erased on coach Dan Bylsma’s challenge for offside. Consider that a gift for the goalie’s 100th NHL game.
Ovechkin takes a long range blast; Daccord sees it all the way and makes a routine – if there is such a thing off Ovi’s stick – pad save. Shots are 14-6 visitors 17 minutes in.
Jared McCann pesters John Carlson into a turnover, setting up a Shane Wright’s in-close snipe. Lindgren, who catches with his right hand, snaps it out of the air.
Daccord shines twice before the end of the period, both caused by too-wide gaps in the Seattle defense. First, Andrew Mangiapane on a breakaway is out-waited by the goalie, runs out of real estate, and sends a shot off the side of the net.
Moments later, the seas part for Dylan Strome, who finds a breaking Connor McMichael, but Daccord again has the answer. Paging Kraken defense! Please report to the lanes in front of your netminder.
Fehervary knocks Brandon Montour back on his wallet as a scoreless period ends.
2nd Period
No team in the NHL flies in the face of hockey metrics more than the Caps. Last season, they made the playoffs despite a -36 goal differential. In their last game, Washington was outshot 34-14 by Edmonton, usually a death wish against the potent Oilers. Instead, the Capitals prevailed, 3-2.
Daccord bedevils McMichael and Fehervary again on back-to-back scoring chances to start the period. He then stones Pierre-Luc Dubois on a bang-bang passing play – only to see a fluttering poke from Aliaksei Protas agonizingly elude the goalie’s glove and nest over the goal line. 1-0 Caps at 4:36 on Protas’ 20th, and Dubois’ 30th assist.
A super-human Daccord stop keeps the Capitals from doubling their lead. Ethan Frank with a beauty of a behind-the-back pass sets up teammates 2-on-0. Paging Kraken defense! Fehervary passes to Lars Eller, and there’s no way Daccord can push across his crease in time. But he does!
Joey, who deserves some assistance, gets help from the inside of the right post on a John Carlson shot which got by him. Even without that one adding to the total, shots are 23-9 Washington halfway through.
The only thing which can stop Fehervary tonight is a Vince Dunn blast deflected off Tom Wilson’s stick into the Caps’ defenseman’s face. Fehervary is helped to the dressing room with a bleeding wound. The shot came on a Kraken power play, but against the NHL’s #3 penalty kill – and #1 on the road – Seattle can’t break through.
Ethan Frank does at 18:05, on another Seattle defensive breakdown. Frank, a fleet skater who’s been a sensation since being called up from AHL Hershey, outskates the field. To his immense credit, Daccord makes a tremendous save. But on high-danger chances, the goalie can’t be concerned with directing the rebound. In this case, it kicks right back to Frank, who pots the rebound for a 2-0 Capitals lead.
Making their comeback more difficult, the Kraken didn’t register a shot for the period’s first 16 minutes, and that one is a harmless Josh Mahura attempt from 60+ feet.
On a rare Washington defensive lapse, Oliver Bjorkstrand has a last-minute breakaway of his own and a chance to swing the momentum. Instead, Lindgren sweeps his glove hand upward to make his best save of the night, and Seattle will face a two-goal deficit with 20 to play.
3rd Period
In the role of the freight train: Washington’s Tom Wilson. In the role of whatever is unlucky enough to be in the way of a freight train: Seattle’s Josh Mahura. A clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit sends the Kraken defenseman into next week. At the next whistle, all the on-ice Kraken surround Wilson, but there’s no further truculence.
Paging Kraken defense! (This seems pointless.) Eller gets the latest Caps breakaway – and becomes the latest to be stoned by Joey Daccord. The Kraken are trailing in high-danger chances 17-6, according to Natural Stat Trick. Overall, shots are 32-20 D.C. Yikes!
Ovechkin’s 875th career goal ended any remaining suspense, but did allow fans at CPA to see a piece of history.
Up Next
As Ovechkin & Co. depart, Sidney Crosby & the Pittsburgh Penguins arrive for a 1 pm matinee Saturday at CPA. The Kraken depart for a lone road game Monday in Edmonton, but won’t be gone for long. The very next night, Tuesday, Jan. 28, the begin a new homestand against the Anaheim Ducks.