You don’t see that every day. Kraken goalie Joey Daccord earned a 34-save shutout against the Islanders… and LOST 1-0 in a shootout.
Still, the Kraken are coming home with a better-than-.500 record from their challenging four-game trip that took them to Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Long Island—a swing in which they faced four teams who have all been better than expected this season.
A win Sunday would have been a really nice cherry on top of the sundae, but the Kraken did manage to force yet another overtime against the Islanders and came a shootout goal away from sweeping a back-to-back for the first time since 2022-23. Alas, they came up short, but still snagged a point in the second game—the first time they’ve done that since the 2023-24 season.
“We didn’t score any goals, so we didn’t find a way to capitalize,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Of course, neither did they. I thought our goalie was really good. I thought their goalie made some good saves as well, but it’s just a common theme right now, shot volume or lack thereof. We passed up too many shots again, so at some point, we’ve got to figure this out.”
Daccord was incredible in this one. Here are Three Takeaways from a 1-0 Kraken shootout loss to the Islanders.
Takeaway #1: Joey deserved better
It’s rare that a goalie pitches a shutout and still somehow comes away with a loss, but that’s what happened to Daccord on Sunday. He was dialed in from the drop of the puck, which was a good thing, because he did get tested early. As the game wore on, you could see that the Kraken were content to sit back and wait for their opportunities—of which there were very few. That meant they were leaning heavily on Daccord, who was equal to the task.
Daccord rebounded from giving up a squeezer of a goal in the trip-opening loss to the Red Wings on Tuesday with a solid 24-save win in Chicago on Thursday. He was even better on Long Island on Sunday, kicking out 34 of 34 shots in regulation and overtime, then two shootout attempts before Bo Horvat finally got one past him to extend the shootout to an extra round. Kyle Palmieri beat him again with the next shot and won the game.
#SeaKraken lose in the shootout… They had it. Horvat saved the Isles, Palmieri won it.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 24, 2025
What a game by Joey Daccord.
✅ Gaudreau
🛑 Barzal
🛑 Eberle
🛑 Holmstrom
🛑 Tolvanen
✅ Horvat
🛑 Stephenson
✅ Palmieri pic.twitter.com/VS59Z3UK5t
While the Kraken did a decent job of keeping things to the outside, there were more breakdowns in this game than in others. Some rush chances, some passes right into the slot, and some dangerous-looking flurries in front of the net. But Daccord was so calm and collected in net that he just never seemed to get out of position or sprawling to make stops. Even when shots were coming through traffic, pucks were hitting him and sticking without rebounds, and in the end, he stopped north of four expected goals, according to MoneyPuck.
Daccord’s effort comes on the heels of Philipp Grubauer’s 30-save performance on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
“They were really good [on the trip],” Lambert said. “I mean, it’s a big reason why we went the way that we went on the trip, but at the same time, our guys battled in front of them, blocked a lot of shots. I thought they both played very well.”
Added Freddy Gaudreau, “Joey and Grubi, the last game, both our goalies are giving us huge confidence out there. It’s huge when your goalies are just solid like that. They’ve been fun to play in front of. They’re just showing up every single game, and they’re ultra talented, so it’s fun to play in front of those guys.”
Takeaway #2: Anemic offense continues
The Kraken did have some good looks in the game, and Big Save Dave Rittich came up with some important stops at critical moments for New York. But the Kraken—as they almost always do—went long swaths of the game without putting a shot on Rittich and ultimately mustered just 21 official offerings in 65 minutes of play.
Part of that is a lack of possession to get themselves set up in the offensive zone, and part of it is playing a structured and patient game that’s comfortable keeping the score low and largely in Seattle’s end. But part of it is a team-wide habit of deferring to teammates when players are in shooting positions, and then not connecting on those passes. In other words, they’re just trying to be too damn cute with the puck.
Asked by Piper Shaw why that seems to happen, Lambert said: “I think we’re looking for something better, and I don’t understand why. We’ve got to shoot the puck. The only way you can score goals, and I’ve said it before and over and over again, is to put pucks on net.”
Of course, it does sting Seattle’s scoring chances to have their only real goal-scoring threat, Jared McCann, out of the lineup, along with the play-driving Kaapo Kakko. Word on the street is that McCann could return this week, which would give this sputtering offense a boost.
Takeaway #3: A positive road trip, in the end
The Kraken’s struggles in the second of back-to-backs continued on Sunday. BUT… but…
With the shootout loss, Seattle did get another point out of the game and came home with five out of eight possible points from a trip that started with a regulation loss in Detroit.
It was the first time since March 22, 2024 (so, more than a full season ago) that the Kraken earned a point in the second of back-to-backs. Remember, they went 0-12-0 in that scenario last year, a borderline impressive feat in and of itself.
“We had a good road trip,” Lambert said. “2-1-1 and points in three of four. Tonight’s game ultimately comes down to a— call it what you want, but a skills competition at the end. If we win that, we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves, and I think we should still feel good about ourselves.”
In the still-airtight Pacific Division standings, the point moves Seattle into sole possession of second place behind Anaheim, although Vegas has played one fewer game and technically has a slightly better points percentage.
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.
I am not buying this story that Darren and Lambert keep selling that the Kraken’s shot totals are low because they keep deciding not to shoot. I really don’t think it has anything to do with passing up shooting opportunities. They are just not getting very many shooting opportunities. And the reason for that is they don’t possess the puck very much. And the reason for that is they don’t have enough speed and skill on the team to create space.
NHL EDGE:
O zone 40.9% 17th
Average 41.1%
D zone 41.2% 13th
Average 41.1%
Is that 5 on 5?
All strengthens.
Even strength:
O zone 40.4% 18th
Average 40.7%
D zone 40.8% 16th
Average 40.7%
Fine. Then that narrative is no longer for sale. I shall not sell it to you, Foist. You’ve missed your opportunity to buy. I SAID GOOD DAY!
Now I’m sad.
Seriously though, it doesn’t seem like they’re passing up an especially large number of good shots. They rarely seem to have the space to shoot. They cycle around the edges with defenders in their pockets. Then if they’re lucky a dman shoots from the blue line hoping for a tip or screen.
Piper also did ask someone (maybe two people?) about o-zone time and improving breakouts. I thought that was more on point.
It’s their system that they are playing, end of story.
They are forced to play this system by the personnel that they have, as Alison frequently points out on the broadcast (although without the word “forced”). We saw what happens last year when they try to play a more aggressive, open style. It’s the right move and the best they can do, but it’s a function of the fact that they lack elite skill and speed.
I’m shocked you’d come to this conclusion after watching the games. It’s maddening how often they don’t take the shot. Worse, they often then try to force a play and turn it over. Taking the shot and getting a goalie freeze also helps your O zone time.
I also find it odd to question the coach here. He has no reason to make shit up. He has the numbers, he knows the game better than anyone here. This also is backed up by the eye test.
While there are huge defensive positives its getting depressing watching us live in our D zone and rely on our goalies to bail us out.
I hate our transition.
For me a sign of a well coached team is the quality of transition. Defensive structure is indeed a priority, but out of that there has to be an effective transition, and the Kraken simply are not good at that atm.
The NYI were a super defensive team under Trotz and Lambert, but they suffered from serious offensive woes as well. I had the NYI feed on the stream I was watching, and they talked about how Trotz cut 100 goals against when he first came to the Islanders. Well, that’s fine, but offense is just as important a part of the game. The Islanders still haven’t recovered fully from the Trotz/Lamoriello years of going for the playoffs at all costs, with limited teams. At least they have a bright young star in Schaefer now to lead them out of the darkness.
No matter the way you slice and dice it, reality is that this Kraken team is very much a work in progress. The next generation is far from ready, and the current generation of good vets are not by themselves good enough to make a great team.
That was rough to watch. The offense is straight up bad. Yes they are passing up spots but mostly they can’t enter the zone with any kind of rhythm. This team will not make the playoffs playing like this.
The irony being they are developing a playoff style of play?
By having one of the worst ES offenses in the NHL? Yes, very playoff worthy.
Good playoff hockey is first and foremost generally considered stingy, very defense oriented hockey. Almost 3/4 of the season is left, so we will see where things go from here.
The transition was much better in years 1-2 under Hakstol with a similar talent level. Could be that the team is 3 years older and mostly slower.
Except in season 3 Hakstol seemed to have no idea how they went to the playoffs in Season 2, beat the Avs in a series and went to game 7 against Dallas.
Loser points are still better than no point at all. We need McCann back the only real dependable goal scoring threat on the team.
Until then….
Go Kraken!!!
If I’m looking at this correctly, Kraken are currently sitting 6th place in the league in standings, and would be leading the Atlantic division with our 28 pts in 22 games.
We don’t have what some are calling “elite talent.”
McCann and Kakko have barely played.
We have Grubauer still playing games.
We have been putting out what some would consider more AHL caliber lines (ie, Kartye—Mølgaard—Winterton).
Mason Marchment has been getting some “top line” minutes.
We have 9 players on the current roster who are 24 or younger.
Given all the above, the team oddly still looks like they are no where near any kind of “stride”. There’s still lots of room for significant improvement. More consistent effort. Better on the PP. Better line chemistries. More and better shot volume. Fewer negligent possession changes. Less needless icings. More using the body and less just skating by players with the puck. In short, lots of important things for the coaches to talk about.
Go Kraken!
Given how many times in our short history we’ve had good play ruined by bad goaltending, it’s nice to have poor play mitigated by great goaltending for once.
Eventually the goaltending will cool off but maybe by then they will have McCann and/or Kakko producing. Most of the other issues are talent related. The “effort”, power play, passing, etc. are what they are with the talent level of this group.
Sure. And there are a bunch of other teams with “loads more
talent” sitting below the Kraken in the standings. Leafs are sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference with Matthews, Nylander, Knies and Tavares. Oh. They have won one more first round series than the Kraken in the last 15 years, so I guess that’s something.
I was with you until you complained about Gru. He’s been great this season and has won or taken every game he’s played into OT.
If we do manage to clean things up and ride out this storm without Kakko and McCann, we should look better. People often forget the knock-on effects of having your leading scorer out can cause. Having both those guys on the ice creates space for the other players on their lines. It also keeps others from having to play special teams.
Well, yeah. Gru has been awesome. Just pointing out he has been the subject of a lot of hand wringing (well deserved) in the past. My theory is he is a great backup goalie. KHN recently flashed a stat sheet showing Gru is career 1.84 GAA with a .924 s% when playing in relief. There is something about playing backup that seems to suit him.
It really feels like game 2 of a back-to-back is instant loss with this team. Is game 2 really THAT challenging to win or are the Kraken just legendarily bad? I don’t know of an easy way to look but have they won a game 2 this year? Didn’t they go winless on that last year too?
Okay by my quick research – Feb 13, 2024 was the last win on a game 2 of a back-to-back. Yeesh
They didn’t just go winless last year in game 2s, they went pointless at 0-12-0. They finally broke that streak last night, but yeah, haven’t won in over a season and a half in game 2s. Pretty horrific.
The Kraken point wise is right there with all the other teams in the league other than the Avalanche, whom only have at this point one regulation game loss.
With the flaws the Kraken have they are still a hard enough team to play against even for a team like Colorado. Looking forward to their upcoming match up to see just how competitive of a game it will be.
Go Kraken!!!