Dunn, Daccord Down the Ducks

Where to start, who to start with? Joey Daccord in goal for the entire six-game point streak is a great choice. You have to like talking up Tomas Tatar (and GM Ron Francis, for that trade) scoring a picture-perfect backhand goal to make it two goals and two assists in his first four games with Seattle. His game-winning goal was a thing of beauty and patience and a world-class backhand shot.

Good choices, and so is Matty Beniers, who appeared to be playing at a higher gear during this three-game road trip with five points overall. His saucer pass to Vince Dunn on the second Kraken goal here in Southern California was a work of art and, of course, thousands of hours of practices on the outdoor rink at the Beniers family home back in Massachusetts, fitting enough with the Winter Class pending.

But let’s settle on defenseman Vince Dunn, who scored his fifth goal of the year and his first in 10 games. The Kraken D-man, rewarded this offseason with a five-year, $29.4 million contract, is paying back the team’s faith with another higher gear of his own. Dunn added two assists as the Kraken scored just enough to outlast Anaheim, which made the last five-plus minutes nailbiters when young American-born star Trevor Zegras scored a spectacular lacrosse-style goal (maybe Zegras knew that newest phenom Connor Bedard did the same for Chicago earlier Saturday).

Dunn now leads the Kraken in scoring with 28 points and is right up there in toughness too. He has scrapped after the whistle with at least one opponent each night of this pre-holiday trip, not exactly exuding the yule spirit but certainly gaining good tidings among his teammates and coaches. Dunn’s assist on Tomas Tatar’s game-winning goal represents his 100^th in a Kraken uniform.

But, on second thought, maybe Daccord should get first billing or at least gain co-star status. He stopped Ducks forward Brett Leason on a shorthanded breakaway attempt in the first period, a half minute or so before Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on the same power play. The Kraken’s rookie goaltender, who has now been part of 15 of 20 games with Seattle earning standings points. He bookended a close-in Grade-A stop on Leason with less than six minutes remaining. Daccord flashed his highly capable catch-glove and all Leason could do was look askingly up at the arena roof in dismay. Daccord finished with 32 saves. The Kraken are now 12-14-9.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, not surprisingly, didn’t choose to identify who might have played best Saturday, but he did like what he was seeing on the ice against a team with “a ton of pace” and “doesn’t give you a lot of time and space.”

“We continue to compete really hard as a group,” said Hakstol, happy his squad can head home to celebrate a three-day league-wide holiday break with family. “We were able to build the lead tonight and hold the lead all the way through. That's the way you want to do it on the road.” Unprompted, Hakstol noted his team has now earned standings in all but one of the last eight games, coming on the heels of an eight-game winless streak: “We've played very consistently ... our guys are playing hard regardless of what our lineup may or may not look like. Whoever is available is going out and doing the job, working hard together. We've put a good string together here ... we will quickly get back on the gas pedal on the 27th [road game at division foe Calgary].”

Joey, Joey

During the inaugural season of Kraken American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley, the Firebirds fans took regularly to chant “Joey! Joey!” after goaltender Joey Daccord made big saves throughout a Western Conference championship season. Those chants amped up during Seattle’s recent six-game homestand as Daccord settled into the No. 1 goalie job with Philipp Grubauer on the injured list. Those cheers will be even louder and longer at Climate Pledge Arena and T-Mobile Park soon after the NHL holiday break for home games against Philadelphia (inside) on Dec. 29 and then facing Vegas in the outdoor NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1 at a ballpark where another rookie standout heard “Julio” chants in his first full season thrilling Seattle baseball fans.

That’s because Daccord turned in another absolute gem of a performance Saturday to tamp down a revived Anaheim squad with young stars Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Mason McTavish. Daccord faced 14 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes, including a point-blank attempt by McTavish in the first period and a second-period breakaway by the 2021 third-overall pick in the NHL Draft (one slot behind Matty Beniers). McTavish is the second-leading points producer to date from the 2021 draft class behind Beniers.

When Kraken GM Ron Francis traded for Tomas Tatar 10 days ago, he couldn’t have dreamed up a much better start for the veteran forward. Tatar’s game-winning goal will make every end-of-season Kraken highlight reel, but the detailed plays he has made to boost offense or stymie opponents already can be counted by the dozens. Post-game Vince Dunn likened it to Eeli Tolavanen’s instant offense and all-around hard-nosed game once the Finnish forward was inserted into the lineup last Jan. 1 after being claimed in mid-December on waivers from Nashville and working diligently in practices and morning skates (as noted by Hakstol in post-win remarks).

Hakstol said the Tolvanen and Tatar (nicknamed “Tuna” of course) roster entries differ but allowed both involved developing near-instant chemistry with linemates with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand for Tolvanen and Beniers and Jordan Eberle for Tatar:

“Tolvi worked extremely hard while he was out of the lineup. When he came in it was obvious that he was hungry ... he found a home chemistry-wise with his linemates pretty quickly. Tuna comes in a little different situation, but equally really excited and hungry to come in and help ... His presence is outstanding, a very, very smart player and he brings that to the table to the people around him.”

Powering Up

The Kraken power play struck again Saturday to open the scoring against the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks. It’s the fifth time in the last six games Seattle has tallied first. That’s a major turnaround from the previous two weeks during which the Kraken not only hadn’t scored first but didn’t hold a lead in any game.

Saturday’s first-in scorer was Oliver Bjorkstrand via another masterful quick-release shot to beat Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal just inside the upper right corner. Jared McCann, who sat out Wednesday’s win over LA, returned with flair, taking a pass from Vince Dunn (team-leading 22^nd assist on the year), faking a shot (he shoots a lot so Dostal had to honor that), and effectively no-looking a pass to Bjorkstrand. It’s his 11^th goal of the season, pushing McCann, who has 14.