Winger Oliver Bjorkstrand Named All-Star Before Game
Joey Daccord was drafted by, and first played in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators.
And no, the Seattle Kraken aren't likely to give Daccord back.
Coming off the first shutout in Winter Classic history, Seattle's newest star athlete set a Kraken franchise record for goalies by going 158:35 of game play without allowing a score.
By the time Daccord was finally pierced with 7:40 left, Seattle had built a 3-0 cushion on goals by Yanni Gourde, Tomas Tatar, and Andre Burakovsky's first of the season.
Seattle coasted to a 4-1 victory, extending their win streak to six and their point streak to 10 games (8-0-2).
All Star Oliver Bjorkstrand
Before the game, Oliver Bjorkstrand (11 goals, 29 points) was named as the Kraken's first representative to February's All-Star game in Toronto.
Bjorkstrand becomes the second player of Danish descent to be an All Star, following Frans Nielsen in 2017. If that name seems familiar - besides his 925 NHL games - it's because Nielsen now serves as a Kraken development coach.
1st Period
The Senators need only 17 seconds to start digging their own hole, as Josh Norris takes a high-sticking penalty. Not recommended when your team owns the NHL's worst PK unit. Ottawa, however, escapes unscathed.
The Kraken join the penalty parade, Adam Larsson for interference at 3:40, Jared McCann for tripping at 5:23. Kraken goalie Joey Daccord makes two saves on the 17-second Ottawa 5-on-3, and seven total while Seattle is shorthanded to keep the game scoreless.
For good measure, Daccord - with a goalie stick, mind you - makes a backhand, elevated, rink-length clear.
Not that he was perfect with that stick...
Yanni Gourde, who had the final goal in the Kraken's Winter Classic victory over Vegas, gets the first one against the Senators at 9:50. Gourde's 6th gives Seattle a 1-0 lead.
All-Star Bjorkstrand won't get official credit, but it was his strip of the puck which got the play started. Eeli Tolvanen, who took the original shot, does earn his 14th assist, following a 1 goal, 1 assist effort on New Year's Day.
Daccord makes two more sparklers on back-to-back lasers by Tim Stützle and Travis Hamonic.
2nd Period
Joey Daccord enters the period with a shutout streak of 126 minutes, 14 seconds and counting. The last shot to beat him was Philadelphia's Travis Konecny at 16:21 of the 1st period Dec. 29 - and that was off Vince Dunn's skate.
The goalie himself thought the streak might be over, looking behind him after sliding across his crease to stop most of a Norris shot. A video review confirms the puck squirted past the netminder, but not completely over the goal line.
Clearly, the Winter Classic goaltending hero remains in the zone. Stützle is his latest robbery victim, an acrobatic palm-of-the-glove save to keep the Kraken in front and bring the crowd to its feet.
A Gourde slash puts the streak in jeopardy, but the Kraken kill it. By the time he exits the box, Daccord has set a new franchise record for consecutive shutout minutes at 140.
Jordan Eberle sends Tomas Tatar in alone from the blueline. The term "wily veteran" was invented to describe what Tatar does next.
Tatar, who earlier said joining Seattle Dec. 15 from Colorado made hockey "fun again," gives Seattle a 2-0 cushion at 15:20 on his 4th of the season, third with the Kraken.
At 19:03, Andre Burakovsky gives the crowd another reason to erupt - and for the Kraken bench to hold its collective breath.
Burkovsky, out twice this season with lengthy injuries, makes a slick move across the goalmouth to increase the lead to 3-0. Right after, the winger loses his balance, slamming back-first, and hard, into the corner boards.
Burakovsky is able to skate back to the bench, but his further availability bears watching.
3rd Period
Burakovsky is back out taking a regular shift.
On this Kraken team, even the leading goal-getter pays the price. Jared McCann stays down an extra moment after blocking a Jake Sanderson shot, which killed the final seconds of Brian Dumoulin's high-sticking penalty. Seattle's stellar PK remains perfect, 4-for-4.
Parker Kelly finally gets Ottawa on the board at 12:20, on a shot that ticked off the goalie's glove.
Daccord's team-record shutout streak ends at 158:35.*
*The NHL subtracts a couple of minutes for times a goalie is on the bench during a delayed penalty, so the "official" shutout streak will be closer to 155 minutes.
Either way, Vince Dunn's empty-netter finalizes the score at 4-1 Kraken.
