Kraken winning streak moves to six with 4-1 win over Senators

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 04: Tomas Tatar #90 of the Seattle Kraken scores a goal against Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Ottawa Senators during the second period at Climate Pledge Arena on January 04, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Cha

Joey Daccord's franchise record shutout streak finally came to an end, but the winning streak of the Seattle Kraken roared on with a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

Yanni Gourde, Tomáš Tatar, André Burakovsky and Vince Dunn each scored for the Kraken, and Daccord stopped 32 of 33 shots in net as his exceptional run of play continued for Seattle.

"Whenever we had a sag, you know, Joey made a big save for us. So that right away injects life," head coach Dave Hakstol said.

While the level of play across the board for the Kraken has been more consistent during the winning streak, the ability of Daccord to shut down the chances that do come his way has been critical to jump-starting the team's climb up the standings.

In 10 starts for the Kraken since taking over for an injured Philipp Grubauer, Daccord has allowed just 14 goals on 310 shots faced. Daccord has delivered a 7-1-2 record with a .955 save percentage and 1.39 goals against average to help carry the Kraken through their recent winning streak. His scoreless streak ended at 158 minutes and 34 seconds with Parker Kelly's third period goal. Daccord hadn't allowed a shot through since Travis Koceny scored in the first period of Friday's 2-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

"Every single night that I go out there, I'm just trying to do my best to give the team a chance to win and it's been a lot of fun lately with the guys being scoring and making great plays and really helping me out, making my life easy. So it's been a lot of fun," Daccord said.

Daccord had to be the star early in the game for Seattle. A pair of penalties to Adam Larsson and Jared McCann had the Kraken trying to kill off a brief 5-on-3 advantage for Ottawa. The Senators fired seven shots on net during the consecutive power play chances with Daccord stopping each one successfully.

It also included Daccord clearing the puck himself with an incredible back-handed send clear out of the Seattle defensive zone. The puck rolled at him from near the board to Daccord's right and – without even stopping the puck to settle it – he went to his backhand and shoveled the puck cleanly 100 feet down the ice all the way to Ottawa goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

"As I was making that play, I was like 'I really hope this gets out because if not, I'm going to be in trouble,'" Daccord joked.

The Kraken effort appeared a bit scattered early as they were giving up chances on net and struggling to clear the defensive zone.

But even with the early onslaught, Seattle managed to strike first. Gourde was in the right place at the right time to collect a rebound off Joonas Korpisalo on an Eeli Tolvanen shot and bury the puck for a 1-0 Kraken lead.

"That was a huge kill," Daccord said. "I mean, you always want to score first, right? And it was kind of a weird start to the game. We got a powerplay, then they got two right away, and it was a short 5-on-3, but it was a big kill for us. And then I think from there after we got that we gained a little bit of confidence and momentum and just built our game from there and I think Gourdo scored pretty quickly after and we were playing downhill after that."

Daccord's dominance continued with a little bit of puck luck as well. A Drake Batherson shot from the left circle slipped through Daccord and went off the bar before being pulled out of the crease by Jared McCann. The play was reviewed after the next stoppage as the net recoiled, but it was the end of Daccord's stick that moved the net and not the puck.

Daccord then delivered another gem to rob Tim Stützle in a save that was reminiscent of his highlight save of Jack Eichel late in Monday's win over the Vegas Golden Knights in the Winter Classic.

Shortly after Daccord's denial of Stützle, Seattle broke the game open. Jordan Eberle pressured Dominik Kubalik into a turnover in the neutral zone. Eberle then delivered a perfect pass to Tatar off a Dunn pass to get him in clean on Korpisalo. Tatar decked around the Ottawa goaltender while protecting the puck from defenseman Artem Zub to score on an empty net for a 2-0 Seattle lead.

It was Tatar's third goal in just eight games with Seattle since being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche in early December. Tatar has jumped at the chance for an increased role wih the Kraken after scoring just once in 27 games with the Avalanche.

"I didn't (have that chance in Colorado)," Tatar said of his ability to show his skill. "It felt good to come here and get the role playing obviously with Matty (Beniers) and Ebs helps a lot. You know, they're two great players."

Then, with a minute left in the second period, Burakovsky finally managed to get on the board. Kailer Yamamoto pressured Stützle into a turnover in the Seattle zone. A give-and-go between Yamamoto and Burakovsky got him a clean look and he snapped a snap by the stick side of Korpisalo for a 3-0 Kraken lead.

"For Burky, that's the type of play that just helps continue getting him confident and feeling good about himself. So it was really nice to see him finish that at the end of the second," Hakstol said.

It was Burakovsky's first goal of the season and first goal in nearly a full calendar year. He last scored against the New Jersey Devils on January 19, 2023. 

"I mean, it feels good to have some luck on your side," Burakovsky said. "I mean, I'm having a lot of bad breaks for me this year and last year so it was it was good to see it go in, for sure."

Burakovsky tore a groin muscle in early February against the New York Islanders and would miss the rest of last season despite a couple attempts to return to action. Then six games into this season, Burakovsky was injured in a hit from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. He missed seven weeks before returning to the lineup and having another injury sideline him for the rest of December.

"It feels like every time I just get touched, I get injured these days," Burakovsky said.

Kelly perfectly tipped a point shot from Kubalik that went straight down through Daccord's legs and into the net despite a furious attempt from Dunn to keep it from crossing the goal line.

The Senators continued to try and push for offense and had a few strong chances that didn't connect. However, Dunn's empty net goal with 2:13 left to play sealed away another win.

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