Kraken blank reigning NHL champion Vegas
Daccord played only 19 NHL games over four seasons but has nine wins
LOS ANGELES: Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord made 35 saves and the Kraken blanked the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday in the 2024 NHL Winter Classic. The 27-year-old American netminder became the first goalie to post a shutout in the NHL’s annual New Year’s Day outdoor game.
“This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life,” Daccord said. “I’m pretty emotional right now. This is an absolutely amazing day.” The NHL’s newest expansion clubs played before 47,313 fans in the home stadium of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners.
“It was huge,” Kraken center Yanni Gourde said. “It has been amazing for us playing in this venue.” Daccord was named winner of the first Winter Classic Most Valuable Player award after posting six wins and two overtime losses in his past eight appearances for Seattle, with fans chanting his name after his biggest saves.
“This was something else,” Daccord said. “It was amazing. (Teammates) made my life really easy—some amazing sticks, big blocks and selling out for the team.” Finnish left wing Eeli Tolvanen opened the scoring 4:50 into the first period, then assisted on US defenseman Will Borgen’s first goal of the season, which came 2:19 into the second period.
Canadian Gourde added an unassisted goal 2:10 into the third period for the final Kraken tally, then praised Daccord’s work between the pipes. “He has been great for us lately,” Gourde said. “He’s so confident back there. It’s amazing. He deserves every bit of this joy.”
The Kraken, in only their third NHL campaign, improved to 15-14 with nine overtime losses for 39 points, moving one point behind Arizona for the final Western Conference playoff spot after stretching their point streak to nine consecutive games. “This run we’ve been on as a group has been awesome. It’s a collective effort from all of us,” Daccord said. “Things have been going our way here this last little bit. We’ve been playing awesome. It has been a lot of fun.” Vegas fell to 22-11-5, level with Vancouver and Colorado atop the Western Conference.
Daccord had played only 19 NHL games over the past four seasons but has nine wins in 23 contests for Seattle this season. He said playing outdoors made the puck more difficult to see than in regular arenas, but was thankful for Seattle’s trademark overcast skies. “Today was really tricky. Anything above the boards was really hard,” Daccord said. “I’m thankful there was no sun in my eyes.”