Daccord, Tatar lead Kraken to 6-2 win

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If one sequence encapsulated a hockey game, it occurred less than three minutes into the third period of last night’s game between the Seattle Kraken and the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena.

Nick Foligno’s power-play goal 39 seconds into the third period cut the Kraken margin to 4-2. Another quick goal would surely swing the momentum to a faltering Blackhawk team which has even more injuries than the Kraken.

It looked like it was about to happen when Chicago’s Rem Pitlick took the puck away from Jordan Eberle at the red line. Pitlick sent a lead pass to Ryan Donato on a 2-on-0 breakaway. Kraken fans know Donato’s proficiency in these situations – he scored 30 goals in two years with Seattle.

But Joey Daccord, who turned the Kraken’s season around in December when he spearheaded an eight-game winning streak, donned the Superman tights once again. Donato switched to the backhand at the last second, but Daccord sprawled to make the save. But the play wasn’t over yet. Hockey is a game of transition.

Defenseman Justin Schultz (two assists) won a battle with a Hawk behind the net, and sent a pass to Eberle charging up the right-wing boards. Eberle headmanned the puck to Thomas Tartar, who came in on an undefended breakaway of his own.

Tartar didn’t try anything fancy- he came in on Blackhawk goalie Arvid Soderblum and fired home a 10-footer. Tartar would add a late goal leading Seattle to a 6-2 victory and ended a four-game Kraken losing streak.

“He’s (Tartar) an intelligent player that finds a way to make the guys he’s playing with a little bit better,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol.

Vince Dunn and Kailer Yamamoto returned to the Kraken lineup from injuries along with Philipp Grubauer, who backed up Daccord. It was ‘Grubi Stein’ at the game, with fans receiving a German-style Grubauer mug.

Jared McCann opened the scoring for Seattle with his 19th goal of the season. From behind the net, Jordan Eberle found McCann open in the left circle. Jaden Schwartz made it 2-0 with Dunn picking up his team-high 28th assist on the play

In the first period, Daccord was sharp, stopping 14 of 15 shots. The lone Blackhawk goal came off a tip-in by Joey Anderson off Jason Dickinson’s drive. Daccord’s best save in the period came off Dickinson on a Chicago power play.

After being outshot, 15-9, in the first period the Kraken increased their lead to 3-1 in the opening seconds of the second thanks to a fluke goal that was credited to Alex Wennberg. Blackhawk defenseman Seth Jones’ clearing pass hit the stick of his defense partner Alex Vlasic and into the net. Brandon Tanev added the second Kraken goal of the middle period.

The Kraken improve to 20-18-9 on the season. They currently reside in 10th place in the Western Conference, tied with the Arizona Coyotes. Seattle trails Nashville by two points for the final playoff spot, but with their overtime victory over Vancouver, 4-3, the St. Louis Blues are one point ahead of in ninth place. Seattle hosts the Blues tomorrow night. 

"This game was huge for us," said Eberle (two assists). "We see the standings. We need to start climbing."


GAME NOTES

The Blackhawks dropped their 18th consecutive road game, the fourth longest in league history. Goalie Arvid Soderblum has lost ten consecutive road games. The Blackhawks are missing due to injuries – Connor Bedard, a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year before suffering a broken jaw, Taylor Hall, a former league MVP, Tyler Johnson and Andreas Althansiou, four of their top six forwards, along with defensemen Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev.

Two humorous sidelights to the game – the Kraken posted a welcome back message to Chicago defenseman Jaycob Megna on the scoreboard and there was virtually no acknowledgement from the crowd. Makes you wonder that a lot of people don’t remember Megna playing six games with the Kraken last year.

After Tartar’s breakaway goal, the PA announced that with five Kraken goals everyone in last night’s attendance “would receive 52% off an Alaska Airlines flight” – everyone cheered at this point – “to Texas.” And then everyone booed.

Scoring Summary

First Period

S- Jared McCann (Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz) 4:34. S- Jaden Schwartz (Andre Burakovsky, Vince Dunn) 7:12. C- Joey Anderson (Seth Jones, Jason Dickinson) 17:20.

Second Period

S- Alex Wennberg (unassisted) :15. S- Brandon Tanev (Brian Dumoulin, Tye Kartye) 17:28.

Third Period

S- Nick Foligno (Philipp Kurashev, Seth Jones) PPG :39. S- Tomas Tartar (Eberle, Schultz) 2:43. S- Tartar (Eberle, Schultz) 16:22.

Shots on Goal- Chicago 34, Seattle 28.

Penalty Minutes- Chicago 6, Seattle 6.

Faceoffs- Chicago 34, Seattle 28.

Three Stars- 1. Joey Daccord. 2. Thomas Tartar. 3. Jordan Eberle.

Referees- Trevor Hanson, Brandon Blandina. Linesmen- Ben O’Quinn,

 

 

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