Joey Daccord took a victory lap with his goalie stick raised high as the Seattle Kraken fans chanted his name in unison.
The young Seattle Kraken goaltender’s performance was worthy of the crowd’s adoration after he shut out the defending Stanley Cup champions on one of the NHL’s biggest stages.
“It’s truly the coolest thing in the world to have that support from them,” Daccord said.
Daccord made 35 saves in his second career shutout, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and an assist, and the Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday in the Winter Classic.
A crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park witnessed the Kraken dominate the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a matchup of the league’s last two expansion franchises. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games and continued its climb into playoff contention after a disappointing start to the season.
“To have the opportunity to do this in this ballpark, in front of our home fans, and get the result that everybody wanted makes it pretty special, and that’s the best way to remember this event,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.
Tolvanen scored his 10th of the season by redirecting Vince Dunn’s shot from the blue line early in the first period. He also assisted on Will Borgen’s slap shot that beat Vegas goalie Logan Thompson early in the second.
Yanni Gourde extended Seattle’s lead to 3-0 just 2:10 into the third period by stealing the puck from Paul Cotter at the blue line and poking it into the net after Thompson mishandled the puck.
The biggest development for Seattle, however, has been Daccord’s stellar play, which has established him as the city’s top goaltending option.
“You always talk about goalies and what a really good goalie is, and the best way to describe it is he saves the ones he needs to, and then he saves one or two more that he shouldn’t save. And that’s what he’s done for us basically every game,” Seattle center Matty Beniers said.
Daccord recorded the first shutout in a Winter Classic and the fifth shutout in the NHL’s 39 outdoor games since 2003. The Kraken is 6-0-2 in Daccord’s past eight starts, and this was his second shutout in three weeks, following his blanking of Florida on Dec. 12.
Daccord made key saves throughout the game, including stopping a prime opportunity from Jack Eichel late in the first period and making a crucial glove save against Eichel in the third. Mark Stone hit the post late in the second, and Eichel hit the crossbar with seven minutes left in the game.
“I thought we’d be better, to be honest with you,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It got to be 2-0, and we didn’t have the urgency required early on. By the time we got it, we were chasing the game, which has happened to us lately. I’m disappointed we weren’t better out of the gate.”
Played in almost perfect conditions with partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the 40s, and the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park wide open, the Kraken rewarded a sellout crowd with one of their most complete performances of the season.
After Tolvanen’s opening goal, Borgen made it 2-0 with his first goal since Game 4 of last season’s first-round playoff series against Colorado.
Seattle’s nine-game point streak is the longest in franchise history, surpassing an eight-game win streak from last season.
Vegas, dressed in Elvis costumes for the game, struggled to generate scoring chances and lost for the fifth time in six games.
“The flash on this afternoon belonged to Seattle’s young goalie,” Daccord said. “It was something I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest days of my life.”
Upcoming Games
- Golden Knights: Host Florida on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup final.
- Kraken: Host Ottawa on Thursday.
