Alex Ovechkin scores goal No. 875 of career, Seattle Kraken shutout 3-0 by Capitals

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 23: Joey Daccord #35 of the Seattle Kraken laughs toward Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena on January 23, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Tonight is Daccord's 100th (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken were entirely outmatched by Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in a 3-0 loss as Ovechkin moved one goal close to Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894.
Ovechkin scored on an empty net with 3:28 left to play for the 875th goal of his career. It leaves him just 20 goals away from passing "The Great One" for the most in NHL history.
On the surface, a 3-0 loss may not seem to be a wildly lopsided result, but that's only because Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord was phenomenal in net for Seattle. Daccord had to face at least five separate breakaway chances by the Capitals and 31 shots in total as Washington dominated play.
Aliaksei Protas scored on a bouncing puck off Kraken defender Vince Dunn, rookie Ethen Frank scored on a rebound off his breakaway chance, and Ovechkin added his empty net goal to carry the scoring for Washington.
"They're number one in the league for a reason, and they played really well tonight," Daccord said. "They made it really hard for us to get to their net. And, you know, credit to their goalie as well. He played well. And, yeah, I mean, it's a tough game. I mean, it's a good team. And I thought we competed, we tried hard. It just didn't go our way."
Daccord finished with 29 saves on 31 shots as he kept Seattle within reach had the offense been able to answer. Instead, the Capitals completely suffocated the Kraken attack and made it an easy night for goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who picked up his first shutout of the season with 22 saves for Washington.
"That was a game against a good team, and we weren't able to abate their pressure enough to be able to get to our pressure. So, you know, it was a tough sledding game, for sure," head coach Dan Bylsma said.
In his 100th career NHL game, Daccord was downright exceptional for the Kraken.
A pass bouncing off the skates of Matty Beniers sprung Andrew Mangiapane on a breakaway chance that Daccord erased with a sprawling save that forced Mangiapane wide of the net. Less than a minute later, a Washington rush gave Connor McMichael an open path to the net with Daccord able to keep McMichael's attempt to slip the puck through his legs from sliding across the goal line.
"Breakaways are kind of a mental one-on-one battle," Daccord said. "I just try to be patient and try to read what they're doing and jump on it."
Washington finally scored as a turnover behind the net ended up on Protas' stick. His clearance toward the front of the net deflected off Dunn and caromed over Daccord into the net for a 1-0 Capitals lead.
Daccord starred again with a terrific denial of Lars Eller on a 2-on-0 rush chance for Washington to again keep the Capitals from extending the lead. However, Frank managed to steal the puck off of Kaapo Kakko at the top of Seattle's zone for another breakaway chance. Daccord made the initial save, but the rebound gave him a clean second look that Daccord had no chance at.
Oliver Bjorkstrand had Seattle's best scoring chance of a breakaway of his own shortly after the Frank goal, but Lindgren denied the goal with a glove save of his own to preserve the 2-0 lead.
"You saw the breakaways and so on. So he played strong," Bjorkstrand said of Daccord. "We got to... you don't score, you don't win. So got to score."
Eller got a second breakaway chance that Daccord again managed to stop that kept the game within theoretical reach. However, Daccord went to the bench with over four minutes left to play for an extra attacker and Ovechkin cashed in with 3:28 left to play on the empty net to close in on Gretzky and fully seal away the win for Washington.
"Yeah, he's an incredible player," Daccord said of Ovechkin. "You know he's most likely going to break this record, and just to get the opportunity to compete against the best in the world, including him, is really special. I remember me (and) my buddy Jack, playing XBox in his room, playing NHL 08 as Alex Ovechkin and trying to score goals. So it's fun to try to not let him score tonight."
Dig deeper:
Chandler Stephenson left the game in the second period for Seattle and eventually missed all of the third period after a brief return to the lineup. Head coach Dan Bylsma said after the game that he didn't have an update on Stephenson's status as he was going to be further evaluated.
Jared McCann moved to center to replace Stephneson in the lineup for the rest of the game.
What's next:
The Kraken face another one of the NHL's top stars as Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins come to Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday for an afternoon start at 1 p.m. The Kraken beat the Penguins 4-2 in Pittsburgh earlier this month.
The Source: Original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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