Joey Daccord’s scorpion save helps Kraken tie club’s longest win streak

WASHINGTON — Add a scorpion save to the growing legend of Kraken netminder Joey Daccord, whose elite hockey origins already emanate from playing for teams based in the Arizona and California deserts.

It was during another first-period onslaught by an opposing team Thursday night that Daccord, sprawled flat on his stomach, kicked up his back leg akin to a scorpion flicking its tail and robbed Connor McMichael of a certain goal. Hockey people do indeed attach a scorpion moniker to such saves and the Washington Capitals felt its sting after the Kraken won 4-1 to tie a franchise record with eight consecutive victories.

As was the case Tuesday night in Buffalo, when Daccord stopped 18 of 19 shots and had his team leading at intermission, he flat-out stole the opening frame again at Capital One Arena as the Kraken extended their team record points streak to 12 games. The Capitals outshot the Kraken 10-6 in the first period, yet found themselves on the short end of a 2-0 score largely because Daccord keeps doing things that defy gravity and imagination.

Not long after he’d stopped Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer off an odd-man rush, Daccord found himself staring at McMichael waltzing in alone following a Justin Schultz giveaway. McMichael went for a multiple deke move, which Daccord made a sprawling stop on but couldn’t corral the rebound.

With Daccord down and out, McMichael calmly retrieved the puck and flicked it into what he thought was an open net. But Daccord flicked last and the scorpion’s sting won out.

Soon after, newly installed fourth line centerman Jared McCann carried the puck across Washington’s blue line, dropped it to Tye Kartye and watched him snap it by Darcy Kuemper for the game’s opening goal on only the second Kraken shot the first nine minutes. If that wasn’t bad enough, Alex Wennberg then scored again with 1:40 to go in the frame, using a defender as a screen on his wrist shot from the high slot.

And that was pretty much the game.

Sure, the Caps made it interesting when veteran Max Pacioretty scored his first goal for his new team — having been activated only last week — by beating Daccord between the pads on a one-timer off another odd-man rush. Daccord looked afterward like he wanted that one back and he wasn’t feeling very charitable from that point onward.

The Kraken then got a goal from Schultz right at the second period’s end, slamming home his own rebound at the lip of the crease, to restore the two-goal lead at intermission. Those deficits were likely emotional killers for the Caps, whether they’ll ever admit it or not. They’d played well enough to at least be even with the Kraken, but Daccord’s play — as it has been throughout both the points and win streaks — did not allow them to ever really get in it on the scoreboard.

Adam Larsson would cap the scoring off a 2-on-1 break with eight minutes to go.

Daccord first period play against Buffalo had admittedly demoralized the Sabres, with Alex Tuch getting stopped on a breakaway and then Vince Dunn coming back down the other way and putting the Kraken ahead right before intermission. Tuch later called out his teammates postgame, saying: “(We) shouldn’t be able to just dominate like that and then one play doesn’t go our way and boo hoo, sit back on our heels and reel it in.”

But a hot goalie can do that to teams, making it feel as if nothing they do will ever work.

Daccord, who played college hockey at Arizona State and then nearly led the Palm Desert-area Coachella Valley Firebirds to an AHL championship last season, has been instrumental in helping the Kraken match their franchise record win streak, set a year ago this month.

They’ve allowed eight goals during the eight straight wins, with Daccord giving up just seven in his seven starts.

The Kraken, as was the case against the Sabres, tightened up considerably as this game wore on. They didn’t allow a shot the opening seven minutes of the third period and that was only after the Caps went on the game’s first power play.

But they couldn’t put anything more past Daccord, who stopped 25 of 26 overall as the Kraken emerged with their first ever victory in this building on their third try.