Kraken's Boston Duo, Daccord & Beniers, Stun Bruins With 4-1 Win

If you're wondering why Joey Daccord got the start in goal for the Seattle Kraken Thursday against the Boston Bruins, check his bio.

Sure, Philipp Grubauer earned another go. He won his return from a two-month injury absence Tuesday vs. the Islanders, looking confident in stopping 25 of 26 shots and all three in the shootout.

But Daccord was born in North Andover, MA, a 40-minute drive north of TD Garden. He played high school hockey in his hometown, and was even briefly a member of the Junior A Boston Junior Bruins. That's why.

And boy did Daccord reward coach Dave Hakstol's confidence, making several spectacular stops among his 36 saves. Another Boston-native Kraken, Matty Beniers, with family and friends in the stands, contributed a goal and two assists.

The Beantown pair led a 2-1 Kraken upset of the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins, the second straight year Seattle has left Boston with a surprise victory.

1st Period

Former Kraken Morgan Geekie signed as a free agent with Boston over the summer, so naturally he was asked about his prior employer.

“They’re good, obviously pretty familiar with them. They work hard, they play really solid at both ends of the ice. They can roll four lines pretty well. They’re a good team.

"I was good friends with a lot of guys over there. My wife was friends with all the girls, too. It's a great group of guys. Nothing but great things to say about them."

Daccord makes a good early save on Geekie in close, and a better one on Pavel Zacha coming down right wing on a 2-on-1.

Daccord uses remarkable athleticism, doing the splits for a pad stop on David Pastrnak. But the rebound either returns to "Pasta" or bounces off the skate of Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. Pastrnak's 34th goal makes it 1-0 Bruins at 4:54.

10 seconds later, Jared McCann takes a tripping penalty. By the time Seattle kills it, the Bruins have an 11-0 (!) edge in shots.

Pastrnak isn't the only veteran who can make the puck return to him for a second chance. On a Kraken power play, Jordan Eberle goes hard to the net. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman makes the save, but the rebound kicks right back to Eberle's backhand. With exemplary calm, he puts the biscuit in the ungarded cage.

The 1-1 tying tally at 9:11 gives "Ebs" 11 points in his last 11 games. One of the assists belongs to the pride of Hingham, MA, Matty Beniers.

Daccord dives on the puck in the crease while nearby, Oleksiak dives on top of Charlie Coyle to smother the Bruins' hunt for a rebound.

The number of high-danger Boston scoring chances this period is roughly 893. Daccord makes saves on open looks by Oskar Steen and Jesper Boqvist. Then Matt Grzelcyk fires wide on a 2-on-1, and Daccord rejects Hampus Lindholm's buzzer-beater.

Seattle has to feel fortunate escaping the period with a 1-1 tie. Shots were 16-8 Boston.

2nd Period

Special-teams note: Seattle didn't allow a goal to the Bruins' 8th ranked power play; Seattle got its goal against the Bruins' 7th ranked penalty kill.

Oleksiak mishandles the puck off a defensive draw, allowing 1,001 NHL games-captain Brad Marchand to drive a slot shot; Daccord makes the save.

Jared McCann heads to the dressing room holding his right arm and wincing in pain. Until now, he'd been the only member of the recently reunited Matty Beniers-Jordan Eberle-McCann line not to miss time with an injury.

Happily, McCann only misses a couple of shifts.

Tye Kartye knocks Boston defenseman Derek Forbort onto his wallet with an open-ice hit.

Charlie McAvoy hits the left post from distance; on the same shift, Adam Larsson takes a hooking penalty. James van Riemsdyk pushes the puck inches wide of an open net, then Daccord makes a big stop on Charlie Coyle from in close.

Now it's Pastrnak's turn to ring the left post.

Boston's Brandon Carlo loses his balance at the Kraken line, gifting Seattle a 3-on-1 down ice. Eeli Tolvanen accepts a cross-ice give-and-go with Beniers, then fires a rocket before Swayman can follow. Beniers picks up his second assist on Tolvanen's 14th at 17:35, giving Seattle its first lead, 2-1.

Shots in the 2nd period were 13-10 Boston, 29-18 after 40 minutes.

3rd Period

Coyle becomes the third Bruin to hit the post!

Maybe the Islanders' Ryan Pulock deserves a fruit basket* from Matty Beniers. His crushing hit Tuesday on Beniers appears to have shaken the goal-scoring cobwebs off the reigning Calder Trophy winner. (*Joking, though he did score seconds later.)

Beniers, with two assists already, flies down left wing. He gets everything on a pinpoint wrister, his second goal in two games and 8th of the season. The Kraken lead expands to 3-1 at 8:36.

It's the third three-point game in Beniers' young career. Don't overlook Alex Wennberg's contribution: blocking a Parker Wotherspoon shot, retrieving the puck, and sending it ahead to Beniers.

Daccord isn't ready to concede 1st-star honors to his fellow Massachusetts teammate. He robs Pastrnak from just outside the left post, raising a glove to block what seemed a sure goal.

Boston clears Swayman from the net in favor of a sixth attacker with more than four minutes remaining. Sweaty palms time for Kraken fans, who've seen too many leads disappear.

Not tonight. Pastrnak takes a hooking penalty at 16:17. This takes two Bruins skaters off the ice, because Swayman must return to the Boston net.

Thinking defense first, the Kraken deploy two d-men as they play keep-away rather than pressing for most of the two minutes.

As the penalty ends, Boston returns to 6-on-5. Marchand's shot is calmly snared by Daccord, his 36th save. McCann - hurt earlier, remember - fires from downtown into the empty net. MacCann's team-leading 22nd makes the final 4-1. For the second season in a row, Seattle waltzes into Boston and takes home a three-goal victory.

You try to figure out this team!