Kraken End Streak with Four-Spot

The Kraken did some house cleaning Tuesday with a decisive Climate Pledge Arena win over Anaheim, scoring four goals while helping Joey Daccord post his third shutout of the season. The rookie goaltender won his 18^th game and made 12 saves, including some big stops in the third period that rekindled the “Joey! Joey!” chants. The eight-game winless streak is over as the Kraken allowed their fewest number of shots on goal in a game in franchise history.

Post-game, the Kraken locker room was unquestionably lighter-hearted (and if that’s not a word, no one on the Kraken squad would dispute it). 

“There’s only one way to get to that feeling and you have to do the work,” said Dave Hakstol, talking about getting the win to end an eight-game drought. “You’ve got to grind through. It's been a long haul here over the last seven to 10 days. But you could see it yesterday [Wednesday] in practice; we had a bunch of guys that just showed up as great pros, worked hard, and that carry through tonight.”

Three-Point Nights for Beniers, Tolvanen

Matty Beniers notched a goal and two assists while he and newer linemate Eeli Tolvanen traded primary assists on each other’s goals. Tolvanen also finished with a three-point night (a goal and two assists). The power play delivered a pair of goals with scores by Jordan Eberle (his 16^th goal of the year) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (his 19^th and first in six games).

Seattle controlled the game and scoring chances in the first two periods, outshooting the visitors 27 to 9 and doubling the Grade-A chances, six to three, per Natural Stat Trick.

First Goals First

Seattle opened the scoring in this divisional matchup, with Eeli Tolvanen scoring his 16th goal of the season and 32nd since arriving via waivers and subsequently being inserted into the lineup on New Year’s Day 2023. Matty Beniers set up the score with a strong move behind the Ducks goal, and Tolvanen handled the hard pass by roofing the puck into the upper corner past Anaheim goaltender John Gibson.

The Kraken made it 2-0 on the Seattle’s first power play when Jared McCann and Justin Schultz worked the puck and McCann found Jordan Eberle along the goal line. Eberle finished the scoring with the veteran move of getting the puck on net quickly, his shot pinballing off an Anaheim defender and again behind Gibson. Jaden Schwartz didn’t record an assist but his position on the far post clearly was on the Ducks goalie’s mind.

Morrison Makes NHL Debut

When Kraken rookie Logan Morrison found out he was being called up from American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley, his first reaction was “shock, disbelief” said Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma, who broke the good news to the undrafted forward along with VP of hockey operations Troy Bodie.

“He was then awash with the realization he was going to NHL!” said Bylsma via text Sunday.

In a story that will be told and retold, Morrison was eligible for three straight NHL drafts with more than 600 prospects selected, but he was not one of them. Tuesday night, he joined the fraction that has skated in an NHL game. After a highly productive juniors career – including notching points in every one of the 30 postseason games (27 goals, 28 assists) in which he played—Bylsma said in mid-December that Morrison had already acclimated to the pace and physicality of AHL play. The Stanley Cup-winning coach said then he saw no reason Morrison couldn’t follow undrafted role models like Tye Kartye and Yanni Gourde on the Kraken roster in seasons ahead.

Morrison is clearly ahead of any anticipated schedule, playing on an all-rookie line with Kartye and fellow Firebirds call-up Ryan Winterton against the Ducks. He nearly picked up his first NHL primary assist when his high hockey IQ led him to glide behind the Ducks. When the puck was rimmed his way, Morrison quickly moved the puck, no stickhandling, to Andre Burakovsky net-front. Only a strong save by Anaheim goalie John Gibson on Burakovsky’s snap shot foiled Morrison’s bid for a scoresheet line.

Morrison finished the night with three shots on goal and 3:46 of power play time. He and Winterton, who also recorded three shots on goal, looked to be gaining confidence with each shift, along with former Firebirds teammate and Tuesday linemate Tye Kartye.

“Karts was a good fit with them,” said Dave Hakstol. He's a straight-line, forechecking player. We saw Mo’s presence with the puck—he’s poised with the puck in tight spaces, whether it's the defensive zone or offensive zone, including the half wall on the powerplay ... You saw his intelligence, the kind of sneaky pace that he has. He combines that with a really good stick. Those three did a really good job tonight.”