Daccord’s recent results with Seattle have been years in the making.
Selected by the Ottawa Senators in the seventh round (No. 199) of the 2015 NHL Draft, the 27-year-old had made just 15 NHL starts prior to this season. However, the Kraken lost their No. 1 goalie, Philipp Grubauer, to a lower-body injury on Dec. 9, and since then, Daccord has started nine of their 10 games, going 6-1-2 with a 1.43 goals-against average, .953 save percentage and his first two NHL shutouts.
“You have to take advantage of these opportunities when you get them,” Daccord said. “It’s allowed me to get in a rhythm.”
Daccord found that rhythm early against Vegas.
Outside of the signature stop on Eichel, his best saves came late in a first period, when the Kraken were leading 1-0. Daccord first sprawled right to left on a 2-on-1 pass from Chandler Stephenson that deflected in front of him off the stick of teammate Vince Dunn at 16:47. He then stared down Eichel on a 1-on-1 and stayed with his deke to the left at 17:50.
Daccord’s puck-handling skills also helped the Kraken get out of their zone several times, while at the other end of the ice Seattle’s first goal came shortly after Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson couldn’t corral a dump in behind his net.
“It’s a third defenseman making plays out there with the puck,” Dunn said. “It’s so nice for us to be able to go back and not worry about forecheckers coming at us so much. … He’s been great. Besides the puck-handling, he’s been making the saves we need. Joey played phenomenal tonight. Very happy for him.”
Daccord spent most of last season in Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League after the Kraken signed veteran Martin Jones as a free agent. Although he had hoped to call Seattle home, he instead led Coachella Valley to the Calder Cup Finals, where it lost to Hershey in overtime of Game 7.
Daccord believes he is better for the experience.
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