3 takeaways from the Seattle Kraken’s 4-2 loss to New Jersey
The Seattle Kraken ended their season-opening, five-game road trip with a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
The Kraken will play their home opener on Saturday. Until then, here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Yanni Gourde returns
One of the major questions heading into the season was when center Yanni Gourde would return from a July shoulder surgery. Originally, he wasn’t projected to be back until December. But when he started fully participating in training camp practices, it was assumed he would be back sooner than expected.
It took until the fifth and final game of the Kraken’s road swing, but Gourde returned to the ice on Tuesday. Seattle’s selection from the Lightning in the expansion draft, Gourde won the Stanley Cup twice during his time in Tampa Bay. Before Tuesday, he last played July 7 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Gourde played with top-line wingers Jared Schwartz and Jordan Eberle, who he centered during the final weeks of training camp. He saw 22:25 of ice time, assisting on Jared McCann’s goal in the third period.
2. Joey Daccord starts
Goalie Joey Daccord made his debut for the Kraken on Tuesday. He subbed in for backup goalie Chris Driedger, who was placed on the injured reserve list. Starting goalie Philipp Grubauer got a rest against the Devils.
Daccord started for the Charlotte Checkers, Seattle’s American Hockey League affiliate, on Sunday. He stopped 26 of 27 shots in a 4-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He then headed to join the Kraken in New Jersey, where he stopped 23 of 26 shots in the loss.
Daccord, who appeared in nine NHL games before Tuesday, had a strong training camp for the Kraken and earned praise for his performance during the preseason. Seattle’s expansion draft pick from Ottawa, he was one of five goalies at the inaugural camp.
3. Third straight loss
Seattle dropped their third straight game on Tuesday. The Kraken fell behind early, trailing 2-0 after the first period and 3-1 after the second. It looked like they might be headed for another route in the mold of Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
But Seattle stayed in this one. Early in the third period, McCann scored on the power play to make the score 3-2. But the Kraken couldn’t pull even, and Pavel Zacha produced the final score with an empty netter with 20 seconds remaining.
The loss dropped the Kraken’s record to 1-3-1 — with all of the games coming on the road. They’ll finally play their first home game at Climate Pledge Arena against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 7:08 PM.
