Kraken defeat Capitals for 8th win in row, push point streak to 12

The Seattle Kraken won their eighth straight game and extended their point streak to 12 with a 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington on Thursday.

The Kraken tied their longest winning streak in their three NHL seasons; the 12-game point streak extended the team record.

"When you're winning, everything's more fun,” Seattle goalie Joey Daccord said. “And when you're on a win streak like this and a point streak like we are, it's a lot of fun. We have a great group already, so when things are going our way, it's definitely a lot of fun and it's great to be a part of."

Adam Larsson had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (18-14-9). Daccord made 25 saves in winning his seventh straight start.

Daccord is 9-0-2 in his past 11 games. He hasn't lost in regulation since Dec. 10, 3-0 to the Minnesota Wild.

“Just trying to bring the same mindset every night and just try not to get results-focused,” Daccord said. “Every night, you go back to the drawing board, you look at the game plan -- whether it's the team or myself -- how you want to handle every situation and just stick to the process, do the right things and good things will happen. It's been a lot of fun this last month now. It's been a lot of fun and I'm just trying to enjoy it and ride the wave."

Max Pacioretty scored his first goal with Washington, and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for the Capitals (19-14-6), who are 2-6-1 in their past nine games.

“We have to just keep playing, keep playing, keep playing and that’s where tonight, yeah, you just have to stick with it, stick with it, stick with it and I thought we had a few breakdowns where we give them opportunities where we have to be way tighter,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said.

Daccord kept the game 0-0 at 7:49 of the first period when he made a scorpion save on Connor McMichael, kicking up his right pad as McMichael shot from the top of the goal crease.

"It was a quick turnover and they kind of got a breakaway,” Daccord said. “I felt it hit my pad, and it's kind of tough when you're laying face down on the ice to see what's going on. I assumed that he kind of had the rebound and I could just kind of see his body. I couldn't really see the puck, so I just kind of stuck my leg up and hoped it me and I felt it hit my pad. I was like, that was pretty cool. It's nice when those are going your way."

Tye Kartye gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first when he shot blocker side from the top of the left face-off circle.

"It means a lot,” Kartye said. “Obviously, we play pretty evenly throughout the whole team, so when everybody's contributing, I think that bodes well for us."

Alex Wennberg made it 2-0 at 18:12 after skating through the neutral zone and shooting from the high slot.

Pacioretty cut it to 2-1 at 5:47 of the second period when he took a touch pass from Dylan Strome, who was in the slot, and shot from just to the right of the right hash marks.

It was Pacioretty’s first goal in the NHL since Jan. 10, 2023, when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes. He missed the final 37 games last season and then, after signing a one-year contract with the Capitals on July 1, 2023, missed the first 35 games this season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon sustained Jan. 19, 2023. He played just five games last season, reinjuring the Achilles after initially tearing it during offseason training in 2022.

“Personally, I’ve been getting more and more comfortable, four games in a row now, but you still want to obviously win the game and contribute a little more,” Pacioretty said. “We had a couple chances there to get us to within one, and you never know if you bury one of those, the crowd gets into it and you give yourself a chance to win. So, it would have been nice to get another one or help get another one to get the team back in it.”

The Kraken went up 3-1 at 18:20 when Justin Schultz jammed in his own rebound at the side of the net.

“That third one kills us off the face-off,” Carbery said. “To go down 3-1, I don’t think the game is decided, but for us being so scoring-challenged, once it gets to 3-1 it makes it difficult.”

Larsson made it 4-1 at 12:02 of the third period after taking a pass from Brandon Tanev on a give-and-go and putting in a backhand at the top of the goal crease.

“In the third period, that’s disappointing, there should be way more of a push from our group, our leadership, top to bottom and there wasn’t,” Carbery said. “Even if you’re not scoring, even if you can’t make a tape-to-tape pass, you can still have a large impact on the game with your skating, your physicality, your intensity, and I didn’t think there was much in the way of that in the third period, which was disappointing.”

NOTES: Capitals forward T.J. Oshie had three shots and was minus-2 in 13:05 of ice time in his return after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury. ... Washington played without All-Star forward Tom Wilson, who sustained a broken nose in a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. ... The Kraken joined the Florida Panthers (9-0-0 since Dec. 23), Edmonton Oilers (9-0-0 since Dec. 21) and Winnipeg Jets (8-0-0 since Dec. 30) as the fourth team with an active winning streak of at least eight games. It's the first time in NHL history that four teams simultaneously own an active win streak of at least eight games.