Daccord makes 32 saves, but Kraken fall 2-1 in shootout to Panthers

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 10: Joey Daccord #35 of the Seattle Kraken plays the puck against Carter Verhaeghe #23 of the Florida Panthers during the third period at Climate Pledge Arena on December 10, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - Chandler Stephenson scored his third goal of the season, and Joey Daccord made 32 saves for Seattle, but the Kraken fell to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in a hard-fought 2-1 shootout defeat on Tuesday night.

Shane Wright and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had chances inside the final minute to win it for Seattle only to have their shots miss the net wide right. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each scored against Daccord in the shootout to claim the victory for Florida after a hectic overtime period.

"We'll take the point," Stephenson said. "Obviously, it would have been nice (to win), but at the same time, you know, still did some good things,"

Daccord – back in the lineup after missing Sunday's game against the New York Rangers due to illness – delivered one of his best outings of the season. He allowed just one goal on 33 shots faced as he continues to shine for Seattle.

"It was unfortunate for Joey," head coach Dan Bylsma said. "I think he didn't see the pass to the side because of the traffic and people in front. That was probably how it was going to have to go in on Joey tonight because he was outstanding in net for us tonight."

Head coach Dan Bylsma called the game "our best defensive effort of the year." Florida's top five power play unit was kept off the board in two opportunities, including a third period power play that registered no shots on net.

"They're a very solid team. I thought we did a lot of good things out there today. It's always tight games against these guys." defenseman Adam Larsson said.

"When we play a lot smarter we tend to not spend as much time in the D-zone as we had been doing earlier in the season. I thought we kind of figured that out a little bit and it's been paying off in wins. That's always fun. Just got to continue doing it Obviously, we're playing a lot stronger as a team right now."

The Kraken were terrific through the first half of the opening period before a Wright tripping penalty allowed Florida's attack to get moving with its dangerous power play unit. While the Panthers didn't score, it did flip the momentum as Seattle had to defend heavily for several minutes.

But a fantastic play in transition allowed the Kraken to grab the lead with under five minutes left in the frame. Five of the six players on the ice touched the puck for Seattle as they quickly went from behind their own goal line to the back of the net. Yanni Gourde's pass off the boards hit Chandler Stephenson streaking in on the net with a wrist shot that slipped by the glove of Sergei Bobrovsky for a 1-0 lead.

The whole scoring sequence went from Joey Daccord to Adam Larsson, to Jared McCann, to Gourde, and eventually Stephenson for the opening goal.

"Especially when Joey is playing the puck so well, for us (defensemen) we just have to be open and he will find us. And then Chandler is an unbelievable skater. You have to be aware of him at all times out there, so it was nice for us and for him to see it go in," Larsson said.

Jamie Oleksiak saved a goal for Seattle shortly after grabbing the lead. Mackie Samoskevich had Daccord beat on a wraparound chance behind the net, but Oleksiak got his stick to the puck to breakup the scoring chance and preserve Seattle's advantage.

With the Kraken on the power play in the second period, Daccord came up with his biggest save of the game. Daccord robbed Aaron Ekblad with a glove deflection on a two-on-one short-handed rush to preserve the one-goal lead.

But the lead wouldn't survive the period as a wild sequence led to Florida finally cracking Daccord to tie the game at 1-1.

Gourde had a semi-breakaway chance in on Bobrovsky for Seattle, only for Nate Schmidt to deny the chance with a slash on Gourde that wasn't called by the officials. Schmidt's attempted stick-lift on Gourde caught Gourde on his lower hand in addition to knocking the stick from his grasp.

"We get the wall play and it squirts out there, Yanni's speed, we get it to Yanni and he has a breakaway," Bylsma said. "It looks like his glove comes off his stick for a reason, but that's not the way the ref saw it. He saw stick-on-stick."

With the scoring chance erased for the Kraken, the Panthers then jumped into one of their own as Sam Reinhart set up Aleksander Barkov for a one-timer from the right circle that Daccord couldn't bail out.

It was the first goal Daccord had allowed in nearly 100 minutes of game action against the Panthers at Climate Pledge Arena. He pitched a shutout in a 4-0 Seattle victory over Florida nearly a year ago to the day.

"It was unfortunate for Joey," Bylsma said. "I think he didn't see the pass to the side because of the traffic and people in front. That was probably how it was going to have to go in on Joey tonight because he was outstanding in net for us tonight."

Gourde took just one shift in the third period and did not return to action due to a lower body injury. Bylsma didn't have an update on Gourde's status after the game.

The two teams traded fruitless power play chances through the first half of the third period.

Carter Verhaeghe whiffed on a prime chance with under 10 minutes left to play on a great pass to the backdoor of Daccord's net from Barkov that easily could have resulted in a Panthers lead. The Kraken again had to defend heavily as Florida out-shot the Kraken by a 9-5 margin in the final period before heading to overtime.

The Kraken created the best chances in the overtime. McCann had a backhand try in tight on Bobrovsky just over 90 seconds into the extra period. Verhaeghe broke up a Stephenson pass across the crease looking for Jaden Schwartz for a finish. Then Wright and Bjorkstrand had their chances, but couldn't strike.

Eeli Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand were denied by Bobrovsky in the shootout with the two scores from Barkov and Reinhart enough for the victory for Florida.