Daccord makes 26 saves, Kraken edge Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Joey Daccord made 26 saves, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Florida Panthers 2-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Kaapo Kakko and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken (25-29-4). Shane Wright had two assists.

Each team was playing its first game since Feb. 8 due to the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

“I felt great, the break was awesome,” Daccord said. “I got some sun, you saw a lot of tans out there. But everyone was rested and ready to go. We played a great game. Fun to get a win in our first one back.”

Eetu Luostarinen scored for Florida (34-21-3). Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves.

“It was kind of a mixed bag, I don’t think we gave up a whole lot,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “They got one on the power play, we don’t. There were some missed opportunities. … There was sloppiness, couldn’t get a handle on some pretty basic things.”

Seattle took a 2-1 lead at 7:03 of the third period. McCann sent a wrist shot from the left circle that went off the stick of Bobrovsky and into the back of the net.

“Much-needed game-winning goal,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “In the third period, battling a really good team to the end. That goal is obviously the difference … it was just a well-fought, hard game for us. A lot of guys were factors in the match.’’

Kakko gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Matty Beniers on a power play, putting a shot between the skates of Bobrovsky.

Florida tied the score 1-1 at 11:37 of the second period. Anton Lundell sent a shot to a hard-charging Luostarinen at the net, who went top shelf. Defenseman Niko Mikkola had the secondary assist; all three played for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“It was a really tight game, we had our chances, but they put the puck in at a better percentage,’’ Luostarinen said. “We didn’t give them a lot of time, but there were times we were a little sloppy. We can improve from this.”

Florida appeared to take a 2-1 lead at 16:55 of the second on a goal by Mackie Samoskevich. Seattle challenged, and video review determined that Evan Rodrigues interfered with Daccord.

The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with 3:19 remaining in the third and, while they spent a lot of time in the Seattle zone, did not record a shot on goal.

Seattle blocked 14 shots in the game.

“There were a lot of hectic plays,” Daccord said. “At 6-on-5, you expect to just throw a lot of pucks at the net and hope for a bounce to an open guy, a bounce off the leg. I thought our guys did a great job of staying calm and getting pucks out when we needed.’’

NOTES: Matthew Tkachuk did not play for the Panthers because of a lower-body injury. The forward was injured while playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Maurice said he is day-to-day. … Seattle captain Jordan Eberle returned to the lineup for the first time since he had pelvic surgery in November. The forward, who missed 40 games, had two shots on goal in 14:03 of ice time. … Daccord (20-14-3) became the second goalie in Seattle’s four seasons to reach 20 wins. Martin Jones won 27 for the Kraken during the 2022-23 season.