By TIM BOOTH
SEATTLE — Joey Daccord made 35 saves in his second career shutout, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and an assist, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, on Jan. 1 in the NHL Winter Classic.
A crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park watched the Kraken dominate the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a matchup of the league’s last two expansion franchises. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games and continued its climb back into playoff contention after a disappointing start to the season.
Tolvanen scored his 10th of the season, redirecting Vince Dunn’s shot from the blue line early in the first period. Tolvanen picked up the assist on Will Borgen’s slap shot that beat Vegas goalie Logan Thompson early in the second.
Yanni Gourde gave Seattle a 3-0 lead 2:10 into the third on an effort play, stealing the puck from Paul Cotter at the blue line and poking it into the net after Thompson whiffed trying to sweep the puck aside.
But the biggest development for Seattle in this game and for the past few weeks has been Daccord, who seems to be establishing himself as Seattle’s No. 1 option in net.
Daccord posted the first shutout in a Winter Classic and fifth shutout overall in the NHL’s 39 outdoor games since 2003. The Kraken are 6-0-2 in Daccord’s past eight starts and he posted his second shutout in the last three weeks after blanking Florida on Dec. 12.
Daccord made the easy saves look easy and stood strong when the Golden Knights threatened. Jack Eichel had a great opportunity late in the first period off a turnover by Brian Dumoulin, but Daccord made a solid save with his left pad.
Mark Stone hit the post with a redirected shot late in the second. Eichel hit the crossbar with seven minutes left and a few minutes later was robbed on a glove save by Daccord.
Played in almost perfect condition with party cloudy skies, temperatures in the 40s and most importantly the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park wide open, the Kraken rewarded a sellout crowd with one of their more complete performances of the season.
Tolvanen scored 4:50 into the game, redirecting Vince Dunn’s shot past Thompson. Seattle made it 2-0 when Borgen scored his first since Game 4 of last season’s first-round playoff series against Colorado.
Seattle’s nine-game point streak is the longest in franchise history, topping the eight straight wins the Kraken had last season.
Vegas lost for the fifth time in six games and struggled to generate many good scoring chances against Seattle.
The Golden Knights arrived for the game in Elvis costumes but their performance lacked the showmanship of “The King.”
The flash on this afternoon belonged to Seattle’s young goalie.
Up next
Golden Knights: Host Florida on Jan. 4 in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup final.
Kraken: Host Ottawa on Jan. 4.
THE SCORE
Kraken 3, Golden Knights 0
