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Three Takeaways – Montour, Stephenson, Sprong factor into 3-0 Kraken win over Predators

Darren Brown

After watching Seattle’s 3-0 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday, I’m starting to believe that the Kraken are good and that the Nashville Predators are truly broken.

It was tough sledding to break through against a razor-sharp Juuse Saros in this game, but Daniel Sprong rang the bell for the first time since rejoining the Kraken in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 8. Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist, and Chandler Stephenson pitched in with three assists to help Seattle secure its fifth win of the six-game homestand.

“You couldn’t ask for more energy this week or the last two weeks,” Montour said. “Guys are excited to see what direction we’re going in right now.”

All five wins, by the way, came with Joey Daccord in net. Continuing his stretch of exceptional play, Daccord was rewarded with his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career, turning away 24 Nashville offerings.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-0 Kraken win over the Predators.

Takeaway #1: The New Guys®

Both of the big offseason acquisitions—Stephenson and Montour—and the recent trade pickup—Sprong—had huge impacts on this game.

Let’s start with Montour’s performance. I’ve made a claim a few times on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast that Brandon Montour became Seattle’s best player when he signed a seven-year, $50 million deal on July 1. His performance on Wednesday supported that argument and showcased just how dynamic he can be in all three zones.

The first highlight-reel play Montour made in the game came when Gustav Nyquist got behind him for a breakaway. Montour sprinted back, caught up to Nyquist, and got shoulder-to-shoulder with him before wrenching Nyquist’s stick up into the air. The way Montour played it without getting a penalty was a work of art.

Deep in the second period, with the game still scoreless, Montour took a nothing play and suddenly turned it into something, while also looping Stephenson and Sprong into the action.

Philip Tomasino tried to force a clearing attempt up the wall, but Montour knocked it out of the air at the blue line. In an instant, he sent the puck back toward the net, where Stephenson had set up shop at the top of the crease. Stephenson showed his elite patience and vision by getting Saros to commit to him and—instead of shoveling it into the netminder—dished it backward to Sprong, who was left with an easy tap-in.

“When Monty threw it to the net, I was more going for the rebound first,” Sprong said. “And then Stephenson went to his backhand, and in a split second, I’m like, ‘I think it might come back to me.’ So, I was just ready in case it did.”

Montour wasn’t done there, and neither was Stephenson. On their first shift of the third period, Montour dished to Stephenson at the offensive blue line and took off, even though Nashville had numbers back. Facing a mismatched 2-on-3 rush, Montour beat the Predators defenders to the far post, and Stephenson made another outrageous pass, threading it around Josi’s skate and into a perfect spot for Montour to tip it up and over Saros’ pad.

“As soon as [Montour] gave it to me, and ripped over the blue line, he said, ‘Yeah,’ he was calling for it,” Stephenson said. “He turned on the burners, and I just kind of delayed there for him. And so it worked out.”

After the game, Stephenson sounded a little down on himself about not scoring many goals and used the term “snakebit.” When asked if he considered shooting on the Sprong goal, Stephenson said, “Not with how things are going right now.”

So, goals aren’t going in for him, but he sure found a way to be impactful on Wednesday, as did the other “New Guys.”

Takeaway #2: Joey does it again

Daccord is quietly rising up the ranks in a lot of goaltending statistical categories, and by stopping all 24 of the shots he faced Wednesday, he improved to a .923 save percentage (good for sixth in the NHL) and a 2.31 goals-against average (eighth in the league). He’s also sixth in wins with nine and third in goals saved above expected with 7.6, according to MoneyPuck.

It’s almost sounding like a broken record when Bylsma gets asked after every game about how well Daccord is playing, but there’s no denying that he is playing exceptionally well.

This game was an interesting one because it really felt for a while like Saros was going to steal the show. But Daccord went toe to toe with the star backstop, got a little luck with a negated Tommy Novak kick-in goal and a post in the third period, and pitched his first shutout of the season.

“I was disappointed [Daccord] didn’t get the shutout in [a 3-2 win over the Islanders on Saturday], just because of how well he’s been playing,” Bylsma said. “And tonight, it was gratifying to see him get the shutout just to accent how well he’s played.”

As Daccord continues to play well, the team in front of him will only grow more confident. If the Kraken can find a way to win Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings, then look out, because this group could be in the midst of a major run.

Takeaway #3: What’s up with the Predators?

I’m not trying to take anything away from Seattle’s performance Wednesday because it was a strong top-to-bottom effort, but the lack of success for this star-studded Nashville roster this season is baffling. A team that already had superstars like Josi, Ryan O’Reilly, and Filip Forsberg added Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos over the offseason.

Yet, a quarter of the way into the season, Nashville sits at 6-11-3, just two points ahead of Chicago for last place in the Central Division. It’s a team that should be playing desperate hockey right now, and for much of the game against the Kraken, they were getting outshot by a 2-1 ratio.

I have to wonder if there are changes on the horizon for the Predators, especially when considering that they managed to get called for the rare “starting the game with an incorrect lineup” penalty and then got blanked to close out their five-game road trip with a 1-2-2 record.

By the way, on that call, Bylsma said the Kraken bench recognized during the national anthem that the guys Nashville had sent out seemed off because those players don’t normally play together. So, once the puck had dropped, they alerted the officials, and the penalty was assessed at the first whistle. You don’t see that every day.

The penalty didn’t really cost Nashville, but it did feel like a microcosm of just how out of sorts this team is right now.

Darren Brown

Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.

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