Daccord Keeps It Close But Kraken Can’t Narrow Gap

Kraken netminder Joey Daccord was musing postgame about the “fight” shown by his teammates throughout a homestand that ended a tad less promising than it began.

Part of the issue the past few games is that the Kraken have done their best fighting when down multiple goals late, again unable to complete the task Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. That the Kraken were even still in a fight was due largely to the goaltending of Daccord, given a consecutive starting chance by his coach and making the most of it on a 35-save night.

But stay in it the Kraken did, nearly tying things in the closing minutes before the Hurricanes pulled away.

“I thought the guys fought really hard – we just competed,” Daccord said. “And at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough tonight but I was proud of our group for the way we battled.”

Jared McCann finally got the Kraken, down 2-0, on the board midway through the third period and then Eeli Tolvanen and Andre Burakovsky both missed point-blank chances to tie the game a few minutes later. Seth Jarvis finally broke open the one-goal affair by converting on a nifty breakaway move with under five minutes to go, followed by Dmitry Orlov adding an empty net marker with Daccord pulled for an extra attacker.

But up until the final 10 minutes, the biggest fight put up by the Kraken was from their goalie and a couple of shot-blocking defenders in Jamie Oleksiak and Ryker Evans. That trio did what they could to keep the Hurricanes from adding to a two-goal lead built on a first period power play strike by Andrei Svechnikov and then a late second period score from Jack Drury off a net-front conversion of a Jackson Blake pass.

Daccord couldn’t do much about either goal and the pinpoint passing that preceded both. But he was more than effective throughout a contest in which his team was outshot 39-19 overall and struggled to generate offense throughout.

“I mean, they’re a good team,” Daccord said. “They play right on top of you the whole night. There’s no time and space out there.”

The Kraken have been pretty intentional up to now in splitting goalie assignments between Daccord and Philipp Grubauer. So, this second consecutive Daccord start represented a chance to stand out in what’s been a fairly even competition up to now.

Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma termed Daccord’s performance “outstanding” and added: “The result and the numbers probably don’t show that but it was his best game of the year thus far.”

And the Kraken will likely need more such goaltending from whoever is between the pipes this upcoming five-game road trip that starts Tuesday night in Montreal.

The Kraken have struggled to generate offense in the four games Vince Dunn has missed due to an injury expected to keep him out several more weeks. They’ve scored only three total goals in the opening two periods of those contests, going 1-2-1 that span.

They ended this five-game homestand 2-2-1 and now embark on a road trip of an equal number of contests in which the team’s mettle should be tested frequently. Bylsma said his team needed to fight harder than it did at times along the boards and in one-on-one puck battles both to exit their own zone and keep play inside Carolina’s end.

“When you play a team like this, you have to execute,” Bylsma said. “You have to compete under pressure, all over the ice defensively. And when you get a chance, your first execution has to be quick and fast and aggressive. I think too many times tonight, we held on to the puck and were careless with our execution when we had the opportunity – especially in the first period – to make those plays.”

Neither the Kraken nor the Hurricanes are known for scoring a plethora of goals, though Carolina does like to fire a barrage of shots at opponents from all angles. The Kraken did a fair job of eliminating the dangerous ones early on, but it was a different story in the middle frame.

Carolina began crashing the net more frequently, forcing Daccord into a number of tough saves. Daccord also had help from his defenders, with Evans sprawling across the crease to deny a likely Carolina goal midway through the second.

Things looked bleak when McCann was stopped by Frederik Andersen on a clear-cut breakaway chance while shorthanded in the closing seconds of that second period. But Daccord’s netminding certainly kept his team alive long enough to have a glimmer of hope once McCann converted in the third, extending his points streak to six consecutive games.

McCann agreed that Daccord’s play at least gave the home side a chance at again stealing a point or two late as they’d done with him in the net against Winnipeg the prior contest.

“We had some moments where we were playing behind them and getting some pucks back,” McCann said of the Kraken penetrating Carolina’s defensive wall. “We just needed to do that for 60 minutes.”

One example of the Kraken’s inability to win puck battles came midway through the second period when Oleksiak took a puck off the unprotected inside part of his knee and could barely stand up while play continued. The Kraken simply could not regain control to secure a whistle and play stoppage, forcing Oleksiak to stay out there an extra 1:22 of playing time in excruciating pain.

Finally, a puck went over the glass, and he was helped to the dressing room. Not long after, he was back out helping the Kraken kill off a four-minute penalty.

“He’s a warrior,” Daccord said.

So was Daccord for most of this contest, likely earning himself another outing and more after that if this type of play continues.