Seattle Kraken stifle Sidney Crosby, Penguins in 4-1 victory

Joey Daccord continues to play like one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, stopping 28 of 29 shots for the Seattle Kraken in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.

Playing in his ninth straight game for the Kraken, Daccord was rock solid again in net for Seattle. Future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby was the only one that managed to crack Daccord for Pittsburgh, as Daccord won for the fifth time in seven starts since returning from injury.

"He's been amazing for us," said Jared McCann, who had a pair of assists in the win. "He's making huge saves, he's keeping us in games. Not much more you can ask from a guy."

Vince Dunn scored a power play goal on a 5-on-3 advantage to give the Kraken the lead later in the second period. Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers also scored, with Chandler Stephenson and Jared McCann each picking up a pair of assists in the victory.

"You have to have your goaltender make a save, make big saves, make a timely save for you to stay in the match, to be in the match, to preserve a win and Joey has been doing that now for the better part of the last six games," head coach Dan Bylsma said.

Daccord has played in all nine games he's been active since coming off injured reserve from an upper body injury on January 9. He replaced Philipp Grubauer for the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets after Grubauer allowed six goals in 40 minutes. Then, after playing the full game against the Buffalo Sabres on January 11, Daccord was tasked with replacing Grubauer again less than seven minutes into a 6-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings the next day after Grubauer allowed three goals on four shots.

I like playing a lot, so just feels like it's just another day," Daccord said. "You know, I think most goalies will tell you that they like playing a lot and like just, I mean, for me, I felt like the third period of last game just carried it into this game and just kept rolling. And, yeah, I love it. They tell me to play, I play. They tell me to sit, I sit."

Daccord ranks sixth in the NHL in save percentage at ,917 behind Anthony Stolarz (Toronto), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Logan Thompson (Washington), Darcy Kuemper (Los Angeles) and Dustin Wolf (Calgary). 

"I try to just be the same every day," Daccord said. "I know if I just play like myself and play like I'm able to, then I don't need to, like, elevate above what I'm capable of at a consistent level. So I just try to bring the same mindset, the same focus, same energy levels every single day. And if I do that, then, you know, I feel like I'm able to put a pretty consistent game on the ice."

The Kraken will almost certainly have to give Grubauer a start soon. They have a back-to-back with the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks on Monday and Tuesday. Playing Daccord for both of those games would seem to be asking too much.

But it's completely clear there is no goalie tandem in Seattle anymore. Daccord is the No. 1 goalie and Bylsma is going to ride his star for as many games as he can get away with as the Kraken try to hang around in the standings.

A fairly uneventful first period saw only a few legitimate scoring chances for either team. Erik Karlsson had a shot ring off the post, and Drew O'Connor had a strong net drive that was denied by Daccord for the Penguins' best chances. Meanwhile, Tolvanen had a prime look after exiting the penalty box at the end of a successful penalty kill for Seattle that Joel Blomqvist turned aside.

But in the second period, the Kraken took advantage of a pair of mistakes from veteran defenseman Kris Letang to grab the lead.

After a lengthy shift in the offensive zone for Pittsburgh, Letang fumbled control of the puck near the wall as Stephenson took it away to start a rush chance. Stephenson dropped the puck to André Burakovsky, who found Bjorkstrand for a clean finish past Blomqvist for a 1-0 Seattle lead early in the period.

The lead would last just two minutes before Crosby answered back for Pittsburgh. Crosby found space in front of Seattle's net and snapped a wrist shot by Daccord off a pass from Rickard Rakell to tie the game at 1-1.

With four minutes left in the period, Cody Glass was called for a slashing penalty against Jaden Schwartz. On the penalty kill, Letang cross-checked Beniers in the back to give the Kraken a two-man advantage for 1:20 of power play time.

Blomqvist made one good save on a Jared McCann chance, but Vince Dunn ripped a slap shot home with the aid of a screen by Schwartz for a 2-1 Kraken lead. 

"I think we were able to generate some good chances," Dunn said. "I think we took what was given. And again, Schwartzy has been so good out front of the net all year, and even 5-on-5, he's been probably our best player every single night. So he did his part and made it easy for me."

It was the first 5-on-3 goal for the Kraken since a 2-1 overtime win over the Calgary Flames on October 19.

"The conversion rate is 35 percent or 40 percent when you get to 5-on-3, but when you get there it's like you almost need to score with the opportunity," said Bylsma, who took a timeout to prep for the chance. "We haven't had a 5-on-3 in a long time, so you want to be on the same page. You want to get your looks. And I thought our guys, you know, did a great job of it. "

Seattle had to kill off one more penalty in the third period, but the Kraken managed to pull away from there. Jared McCann snapped a terrific pass from the left wall across to Tolvanen, who buried the one-timer by Blomqvist to extend the lead to 3-1.

"We kind of talked about spreading the zone a little bit more in the first intermission," McCann said. "They work hard coming back and taking away the middle of the ice, so if I could just kind of sling the puck quickly, as hard as I can across the ice, it's going to give the guy more time to shoot."

Beniers then extended the lead as the defense quickly turned to offense for Seattle. Beniers pressured Karlsson into a pass that was intercepted by Kaapo Kakko in the neutral zone, setting up a 2-on-1 rush for the pair against Matt Grzelcyk. Kakko waited out Blomqvist before setting up Beniers for his 11th goal of the year and a 4-1 Kraken lead.