Seattle Goalie Joey Daccord Comes Within 4:28 Of First NHL Shutout
The San Jose Sharks can even make the NHL's 28th-ranked offense look like Gretzky's 1980s Oilers.
Four points from Oliver Bjorkstrand, and two goals and an assist from Eeli Tolvanen led the Seattle Kraken's first blowout win of the season, 7-1 over the Sharks.
For a Seattle team averaging 2.65 goals per game coming in, and having already played into overtime eight times, it's a relaxing way to ease into the Thanksgiving holiday.
1st Period
The first two minutes of the game do nothing to disprove that the 3-win Sharks are a mess.
Twenty seconds in, San Jose d-man Calen Addison loses his balance, gifting Jordan Eberle a clean breakaway. Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen makes a fine pad save.
No such luck for Kahkonen at 1:28. Brandon Tanev gets behind the defense, dips a shoulder to ward them off, and scores his second goal of the season. Alex Wennberg made a fine indirect pass off the boards to spring him.
At 5:04, Seattle appears to register its 7th shot already and 2nd goal. Brian Dumoulin feeds Jared McCann for a sweet backhander - except San Jose coach David Quinn wins a coach's challenge that the play was offside.
Yanni Gourde's shot is saved, but a friendly hometown bounce off the glass deflects right to Oliver Bjorkstrand. He fills a gaping net for a second goal which counts at 10:36. Bjorkstrand's 7th makes it 2-0.
They're not done announcing the Bjorkstrand goal to a partying Climate Pledge Arena crowd when defenseman Adam Larsson gets his first of the year at 11:07.
3-0 Seattle, and Sharks coach Quinn would consider calling timeout to settle his troops - but he already did on the McCann non-goal.
Jordan Eberle's assist gives him points in six straight games.
An awesome shift by Gourde results in a 4-0 Kraken lead at 18:45. He could have had two assists on his own eventual goal - actually three, because Gourde was looking for a tip on the centering pass that resulted in his 4th of the season.
Save one 1st period cheer for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Killing a penalty with his team up 4-0 and dominating, Bellemare sees teammate Tanev without a stick, and blocks a shot to prevent a scoring chance.
2nd Period
Gallows humor from Sharks social media.
New goalie, same results. MacKenzie Blackwood takes over the San Jose net to start the period. On an early power play, Jared McCann gets the goal he was denied in the 1st, for a 5-0 Seattle lead at 3:36.
McCann breaks a tie with Jaden Schwartz for the Kraken goal-scoring lead with his 9th of the season.
If this was a fight, it would have been stopped. The refs should allow use of a second puck, so the visitors have a chance to touch it. It's all the Sharks can do to clear their zone and get line changes.
San Jose went an eight-minute stretch in the 1st period without a shot; the 2nd period is worse. Luke Kunin registers the Sharks' first - and only - SOG with two minutes left in the frame - following 18 shot-less minutes.
San Jose can't win the fights, either.
3rd Period
Shots in the middle period were 4-1 Seattle, and there's no reason to expect different before the final horn. For the first time this season, if the Kraken take their foot off the gas in the 3rd period, no one will blame them.
This is not intended as piling on the Sharks. The players don't deserve this; nor does the organization or San Jose fans. No one should have to go through this.
Bjorkstrand picks up point number four on the Eeli Tolvanen goal which makes it 6-0 at 2:22.
What suspense remains - whether Joey Daccord will earn his first NHL shutout - is heightened a smidge when Justin Schultz takes a slashing penalty at 7:50.
Not to worry. San Jose doesn't get a SOG with the extra man. The Sharks only have three in the last 31 minutes, and 10 for the game, 11 minutes into the period.
San Jose's Mike Hoffman breaks the shutout at 15:32, his fourth goal in the last four games. The Sharks get to enjoy that for 14 seconds, until Tolvanen's second goal tonight makes the final 7-1.
The Kraken tie a franchise record by allowing an opponent just 14 shots on goal.
Postgame
You'll no doubt read and hear how the Kraken have, at long last, risen to .500 on the season. Well, sort of - "NHL .500." Which is to say, they've captured 21 points, or 50% of the points available after 21 games.
But thanks to overtimes and shootouts, of which Seattle has had eight already this season, every NHL game ends with a winner and a loser. The Kraken have won eight games, and lost 13.
Expect a stiffer test on Friday, when the Kraken homestand concludes with a visit from the Canucks. Seattle won 4-3 in Vancouver Nov. 18.
