Snapping their skid: Kraken shutout Panthers behind strong performances from Daccord, Yamamoto, Bellemare
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Pucks weren’t bouncing their way, they were facing a Florida team that had earned at least a point in six of their last seven games, and injuries continue to mount. The trends and signs for the Seattle Kraken were all pointing away from them being able to defeat the Florida Panthers tonight, but the fight and resiliency that this team has shown is what helped them overcome the odds and end their losing streak. Joey Daccord was lights out in between the pipes from the moment that the puck dropped, the Kraken got two goals from their fourth line, and a focused Seattle group was able to pick up the full two points and hopefully right their ship as we trek through the month of December. It wasn’t necessarily perfect, but it was a shutout victory over a good Panthers team, and it was more than what the Kraken needed.
A few frames as the Seattle Kraken come out for player introductions ahead of their 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday, December 12th, 2023. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo)
Strong defensive structure sets the tone for Seattle
It may not have looked like it through the first period of this hockey game, but the Kraken put together a hell of a strong defensive performance on through 60-minutes. As mentioned, the Panthers are coming off being in the Stanley Cup Final and are a strong group so far this season, so this was always going to be a challenge for Seattle. That was evident through the first twenty minutes of the game, as the Kraken only put up three shots while the Panthers had a handful of opportunities that could’ve presented danger to the home side. The most notable of those came just under five minutes into the first frame as Florida caught defenseman Brian Dumoulin high into the play, leaving rookie defenseman Ryker Evans to fend for himself against two Florida skaters. It was ultimately Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad who got the ideal look on Seattle netminder Joey Daccord, who was more than ready for the attempt that helped to set him up for the rest of this game.
After their three attempts on goal in the first period saw them hardly test Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, the Kraken were able to use nearly the full length of the ice early into the second period to find themselves their first real opportunity. As Seattle looked to reset play a bit with Florida pressing high, Will Borgen found the open play when he sent a pass up to teammate Kailer Yamamoto, who had found his way unmarked into the Panthers zone and with a isolated chance on Bobrovsky. Front hand, back hand, front hand he went, and to the roof to finish things off is how Yamamoto ensured that this opportunity opened the scoring, snapping an eight-game streak of conceding first that ran along with Seattle’s losing streak. The Kraken were on the board first, and considering their defensive play, there was a beam of hope ignited after this score. The offensive momentum felt like it was going in the direction of the team meant to be Defending the Deep, and that almost rang true for a second goal nearly immediately after Yamamoto’s score as Oliver Bjorkstrand nearly stuffed one past Bobrovsky in the crease. It didn’t go through, but it showed that Seattle had the necessary life on the offensive end to keep this train moving and ensure that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Seattle Kraken forward Kailer Yamamoto scores the first goal of the game, getting out and ahead of the Florida Panthers on a stretch pass from defenseman Will Borgen. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo)
Finally being able to pull away
The Yamamoto goal was the lone score of that second period, despite a lengthy delayed penalty, a resulting power play for Florida, and the Kraken themselves got a power play as well before we headed into the second intermission. With that beam of hope ignited, Seattle was able to do something that seemed impossible for this team at this point into the season: slamming the door shut on their opponent. The Kraken had been generating the more dangerous chances between the two teams following their first goal of the night but couldn’t get one to go until slightly less than six minutes into the final frame when rookie defenseman Ryker Evans found Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to double the lead. Evans, notching his first career NHL point with this assist, had threaded the pass through some traffic from behind the goal to find Bellemare unmarked, and all the French forward had to do was score on the exposed net. Bellemare was rewarded for winning the initial faceoff that started possession, Evans tallied his first point in what should be a long career, and Seattle looked like they were heading for their first win in nine games.
Seattle Kraken forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored his third goal of the season, with the second score of the game, on a beautiful feed from defenseman Ryker Evans. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo)
The storylines continued for the Kraken, as they effectively buried the Panthers with their final two goals of this win. The first of those two came from forward Alex Wennberg, on the night that the first 10,000 fans into the building received a bobblehead of the Swedish forward. Seattle had caught Florida flat footed, getting numbers in transition, and it had left Wennberg wide open. To the joy of Kraken fans, he shot the puck, and scored with an absolute laser of a shot off the pipe and in. Eeli Tolvanen, a year to the day that he was claimed off waivers by Seattle from the Nashville Predators, flicked home the empty net goal to put the finishing touch on this contest. The Kraken withstood the final push that the Panthers had, Joey Daccord recorded his first NHL shutout, and the losing streak had been snapped. At least for tonight, Kraken hockey was back, and it felt great.
They needed this one, and they should feel good about it
It’s been a really rough stretch for the Kraken, let alone season considering the weight and expectations of this campaign following last year's playoff run. They’ve done so much good work in nearly every game that they’ve played so far this season, but haven’t seen enough of the rewards for it, and to a degree you’ve seen the frustration come out as a result. While this is only one game and it snaps a long losing streak, it should give the team and its fan base hope. This is the sort of game that Seattle won often last season: suppressing shots on their goaltender, getting production from their bottom six forwards, and outworking their opponent. As it hasn’t in their brief three-year existence in the NHL, it didn’t matter to the Kraken that their opponent was the better team on paper and that they’d played well in recent memory. Seattle outworked and outplayed their opponent tonight and got the sort of victory that they’ve deserved on multiple occasions throughout this 2023-24 campaign. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it will spiral into a winning streak, considering how hard it’s been for this team to string victories together and the stretch that lies ahead of them (two games against the Kings that bookend a game against the Stars this weekend), but it doesn’t necessarily need to take much for a group to get going. Maybe this is that spark for the Kraken, at least we’re hoping so.
The three stars of the game, Seattle’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Kailer Yamamoto, and Joey Daccord, “Yeet the fish” following the Seattle Kraken win over the Florida Panthers at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday, December 12th, 2023. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo)
Quick notes
Tonight, Joey Daccord recorded his first NHL shutout after facing 24 shots from Florida. His shutout was the Kraken's first of the season and the seventh in franchise history.
Ryker Evans notched his first NHL point with the primary assist on Pierre-Edouard Bellemare's goal.
With the primary assists on Kailer Yamamoto and Alex Wennberg's goals, Will Borgen now has five assists in his last three games against Florida.
Borgen's eighth and ninth assists of the season respectively, put him on pace to finish the year with 25 assists which would be a career high.
Borgen's five blocked shots match his single-game career high which he's met three times previously (Nov. 27, 2021, Feb. 16, 2023 and March 7, 2023).
Yanni Gourde's 14 faceoff wins match his single-game career high that he reached on two previous occasions (April 8, 2021 and Dec. 7, 2023).
With a goal and an assist tonight, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare recorded the 10th multi-point game of his career and his first as a member of the Kraken.
Bellemare's assist tonight is his first as a member of the Kraken.
Jamie Oleksiak's four hits tonight match his single-game season high, which he's met twice this season, against Vegas on Oct. 10 and Colorado on Nov. 9.
Vince Dunn is Seattle’s leading scorer when playing at home this season, totaling 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 15 games.
The Kraken have not allowed a power-play goal against in the last six games they have played at Climate Pledge Arena, going 14-for-14 on the penalty kill during that span.
What’s next?
Following tonight’s Seattle Kraken shutout victory over the Florida Panthers, the Kraken continue their six-game homestand in two days when they host the Chicago Blackhawks. There’s an “optional” morning skate that’s likely scheduled tomorrow for Seattle following tonight’s victory, and the day after that they’ll play the fifth of six games in the current homestand when Connor Bedard and Chicago come to town. The Kraken are looking to build off tonight’s victory against Florida, while the Blackhawks have lost their past two contests, including a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers tonight. Chicago and Seattle will battle on Thursday, December 14th at Climate Pledge Arena with a 7PM PST puck drop, being broadcast in the Root Sports market (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska) and on ESPN+/NHLPP nationwide.
