Kraken Score First, Make it Count

The goals (including the first one) were back Tuesday night. The depth scoring was in place again. And the mega-decibel crowd noise revived with extra gusto as the Kraken put an eight-game winless streak to rest with a decisive 4-0 victory that doubled as Joey Daccord’s first career NHL shutout.

After a tight 40 minutes with Kraken forward Kailer Yamamoto logging the only goal, Seattle broke through with three more scores in the earlier stages of the third period to send everyone on the home side happy, relieved, and looking forward to Thursday night against Chicago and rookie phenom Connor Bedard. An Eeli Tolvanen empty-netter made it the ninth time (all of Seattle’s wins) the Kraken won a game this season scoring four or more goals.

Numbers Game For Bellemare, Evans

When Edouard-Pierre Bellemare signed with the Kraken this summer, top-tier Seattle prospect Ryker Evans had no doubt what he needed to do: Give up his usual jersey number 41 to the veteran center, who happens to be 17 years older and a decade-plus into his NHL career.

But the math worked out to a happy equation for both Kraken teammates with Bellemare scoring an all-important insurance goal in the third period (his third of the year) on now-number 39 Evans’ deep run into the Florida defensive zone, sending a stick-tape pass from behind the goal line to Bellemare, who shot the puck fast and true. It was, of course, Evans’ first-ever NHL point. There will be more.

Four Score and ... Fun Facts

We’ve covered how Kailer Yamamoto’s first goal was a big change in recent game trends and Ryker Evans notched his first NHL point. Alex Wennberg scored a bit later to create a party atmosphere (and punctuate his bobblehead night) and finish the night with resounding “Joey! Joey!” chants for Daccord, who got his first NHL shutout hug from none other than Bellemare. Even Eeli Tolvanen’s empty-netter has a nice twist: The Kraken claimed him on waivers from Nashville exactly one year ago on Dec. 12.

Bellemare talked post-game about how he and his teammates were happy to get Daccord his first shutout in the NHL. Dave Hakstol spoke about his current No. 1 goalie delivering in the clutch.

“The first period was a slugfest,” said Hakstol. “That wasn't pretty. We got a couple of big saves from our goaltender, which was critical.”

Pressure as a Good Thing

At Thursday’s morning skate, Kraken players seemed loose and upbeat during the on-ice workout at Kraken Community Iceplex and in the locker room. During his usual meetup with the media, coach Dave Hakstol said, sure, some of his guys might be feeling some pressure to score the first goal and provide support for suddenly No. 1 goalie Joey Daccord who didn’t see a goal scored by teammates in his last two starts.

“I hope there is [pressure],” said Hakstol. “We want everybody, in terms of that personal sense of responsibility, stepping forward. Is there a fine line between trying to do too much and that resulting in some negative results? Yes, but we'd like everybody in that room to feel a sense of responsibility and want to make a difference ... You need to have that when you go through a stretch like this.”

That “stretch” has been snapped. Every Kraken skater and especially Daccord delivered under self-induced pressure to outlast the visiting Florida Panthers who showed up in the PNW with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference clearly on a mission to prove last year's postseason trip to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final was no fluke. Florida featured a bunch of players with formidable scoring streaks and the second-stingiest goals-against total in the NHL (only conference leaders Boston and Vegas were better before Tuesday's action). Hakstol said after the game he sees Florida as possibly the “most complete” team in the league and commended the Alex Wennberg line for shutting down the Aleksander Barkov line with hot scorers Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe.

Per the sense of Kraken players putting pressure on themselves only to let loose with cheers in a raucous locker room, the aforementioned Bellemare was concise in explaining how Seattle grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second period and held onto it with aggressive play in all zones in the third period, not slowing down into a protect-defense mode.

“There's nobody, no one on the bench, no one on the ice, that was really willing to back [away],” said Bellemare, whose fourth line scored a pair of goals (Hakstol, by the way, indicated AHL call-up Devin Shore was going to keep getting time with Bellemare and Yamamoto). Everybody was ready to be on their toes. And every time we had a chance, we made a play. We communicated in a D zone.”

First Goal, Good Goal

The last time the Kraken scored first in a game, Thanksgiving Eve, was the last time the Kraken registered a win, that case a 7-1 laugher over the San Jose Sharks. Tuesday night, in a much more competitive, hard-nosed game, Seattle forward and Washington state-born Kailer Yamamoto scored the first goal of the night taking a perfectly placed stretch pass from Seattle D-man Will Borgen. Yamamoto then did his part in a highlight-reel goal by quick-skating the puck and flashing the right deke at the right time at the right post (literally) to beat Florida goal Sergei Bobrovsky.

On this six-game homestand, opponents scored in the first period while the Kraken were scoreless in all three previous games. In Tuesday’s showdown with Florida, the good news is the Panthers, owners of the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, didn’t score during the opening frame. But Seattle rung up a zero-for-20 minutes too.

Florida outshot the Kraken, 9-3, in the first period with Joey Daccord getting his second straight start with Philipp Grubauer on the injured list. The rookie, arguably the best goalie in the American Hockey League last season and who’s to argue since Seattle GM Ron Francis says so, made a half-dozen timely saves when it appeared the home squad might again be chasing a visitors’ lead. An early save on a mini-break by Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (1^st overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft) set the tone.

Tale of Two NHL Pals from Same Town

Florida coach Paul Maurice was hired in South Florida during the summer of 2022, replacing interim coach Andrew Brunette in a surprise move that turned into a smart transaction when he led the Panthers to the Eastern Conference title last season.

Maurice has long and successfully with the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Panthers (twice and really thrice since the Whalers relocated and renamed in Raleigh), Toronto, and Winnipeg before his current gig.

Maurie was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Kraken GM Ron Francis’ hometown but the two didn’t forge a deep and long-time friendship until Francis rejoined the Carolina franchise after two Cups and 110 assists on Jaromir Jagr goals with Pittsburgh. Francis was a star captain with Maurice in charge, sharing the glory of the 2002 Eastern Conference title. Later, when Francis retired as a Hall of Famer-to-be, he served on Maurice’s coaching staff to learn all parts of running and building an NHL franchise.

This is a game story, so best to wrap up this tale of two pals. But, with a stick tap to The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (worth the subscription himself), here’s Maurice on the Kraken GM:

“What do I know about Ron Francis?” Maurice said. “Well, he’s the smartest hockey man I ever met in my life. I recognized that the first time I met him. We went to the same high school, but he had already gone on to Hartford … so I never met him until we signed him in Carolina (in 1997).

“Ronnie has always had this quiet strength about him. He’s not a loud man. But he’s got a great sense of humility to go with his greatness.”