PITTSBURGH — The only period where the Kraken haven’t been outscored by at least 10 goals this season is the third. If they can make it there without incident, there’s still a chance.
Seattle (19-23-3) reached Tuesday’s final period in Pittsburgh down a single goal in front of goaltender Joey Daccord (31 saves). A pair of Kraken conversions 50 seconds apart from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and winger Eeli Tolvanen gave them a narrow lead, then Kaapo Kakko added an empty-netter for a 4-2 victory against the Penguins.
The Kraken won via — wait for it — come back. In three of their four wins during the past month, they’ve trailed by at least one goal at the game’s halfway point. They evened their record on this five-game road trip, 2-2, with the Central Division-best Winnipeg Jets waiting for them Thursday.
It’s been a busy stretch for Daccord, who recently returned from injured reserve. He started both Kraken wins on the road trip and entered both of the losses in relief.
“Night in and night out, you really don’t have to worry about him,” Oleksiak said. “He’s such a professional with his day-to-day, how he treats the game. It makes you want to play that much harder for him.”
With the action surrounding him more often than not, Daccord pulled double duty in the first period Tuesday. He held the Penguins to a goal and set up the Kraken’s at the other end.
“Joey was excellent on numerous occasions,” coach Dan Bylsma said.
It was yet another first 20 minutes dominated by Seattle’s opponent, but the visitors escaped with an even score instead of down 4-0, as was the case Sunday in Detroit. Pittsburgh had a 16-2 edge in shots on goal, but one of the two was off a shorthanded 2-on-1.
Seattle’s Jared McCann accepted Daccord’s pass at center ice and redirected it to teammate Chandler Stephenson, whose eventual shot leaked through Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry’s (14 saves) pads.
It was the ninth shorthanded goal of Stephenson’s career, according to ESPN. It was also Seattle’s first of the season, 45 games in. Now the Anaheim Ducks are the only team without a shorthanded goal in 2024-25.
Even though he routinely goes beyond his job description in order to set up his teammates, and openly covets a goal of his own, that was the first assist of Daccord’s Kraken career. Philipp Grubauer was previously the only Seattle goaltender to make it onto the scoresheet, having picked up one helper in each of the first three seasons of play.
The Kraken were outshot again, but the second period was much improved. Still, they went down another goal. Everyone was facing the other side of the ice, only for Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust to accept a long pass through the Seattle zone and send the puck into the net ahead of a diving Daccord.
Oleksiak, a former Penguin, is not known for his inclinations on offense like Daccord is, but whipped in a goal-scorer’s goal from the left hashmarks eight minutes into the third period.
“Honestly, I wish I could say (I saw it),” Oleksiak said, crediting the pass from teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand. “I just found a hole and went in there.”
Tolvanen quickly followed up with his third of the road trip, the eventual winner. His other two came in the first game in Columbus, where he had both of Seattle’s strikes in a 6-2 loss. Kaako’s goal was also his third of the trip. He had a pair in a comeback win against Buffalo on Saturday.
The only Kraken player with a multipoint game in Pittsburgh was defenseman Adam Larsson, who registered two assists.
There have been more negatives than positives lately, but on Tuesday, the Kraken didn’t give into wishful thinking.
“We’ve talked about a mindset of staying with it, of playing a full 60 (minutes),” Bylsma said. “Games look different all over the map. You have to be able to play the game you’re in.”
Note
In a pregame interview with KHN’s John Forslund, Kraken general manager Ron Francis said Seattle captain Jordan Eberle is recently off crutches and a week or two away from touching the ice.
He said Eberle underwent surgery, which was announced as pelvis surgery, in late November and had limited mobility for six weeks. Francis estimated Eberle’s return was on track for late February, after the league break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Seattle returns from that break Feb. 22.
Meanwhile, alternate captain Yanni Gourde, who is on injured reserve, has made “some progress” but is expected to miss weeks, not days.
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