Kraken’s Joey Daccord shines in shutout win over Vegas in NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park

SEATTLE – About the last possible off-ice hurdle to a successful NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park was overcome two hours before Monday’s noon puck drop when a dense morning fog finally burned off.

With no misty air, rain or other weather impediments hampering what became a showcase New Year’s Day hockey event for those watching from the stands, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord then went out and did away with any lingering on-ice concerns. The only rain at any point thereafter was the constant chants of “Jo-ey! Jo-ey!” raining down from 47,313 pumped-up fans as Daccord made 35 saves in a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, logging MVP honors for the first shutout in Winter Classic history.

“It’s truly the coolest thing in the world to have that,” said Daccord, a self-professed sports history buff, who had a large contingent of family and friends from his native Boston travel in for the 15th edition of the annual outdoor game. “Just to have that support from them … we have the best fans in the world. It was so much fun hearing that and then just hearing that support throughout the game.”

The Kraken seized on the crowd’s momentum, opening the scoring just five minutes in on an Eeli Tolvanen deflection goal off Vince Dunn’s point blast. And they kept on scoring early in periods from there, with Will Borgen slapping one past Vegas goalie Logan Thompson from the top of the right circle barely two minutes into the second and Yanni Gourde converting his own rebound off a breakaway chance in the final frame.

Somewhat incidental to the broader spectacle of the game itself, though definitely not inconsequential to their season, the win was the Kraken’s fifth straight and set a franchise record with points in nine consecutive contests. That 7-0-2 run, an NHL record by a team immediately rebounding from an eight-game losing streak, has helped the Kraken climb towithin a point of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Combined with near-perfect January conditions of 46.1 degrees at puck drop, with midgame sunlight peeking through moderate clouds, it was a banner hockey day all around for both the city and the team representing it.

The “Jo-ey! Jo-ey!” cheers began in the opening period when Daccord stopped Jack Eichel on a breakaway try. And they continued through the final two minutes after Daccord robbed Eichel with a glove save to keep the shutout intact with the Vegas netminder pulled.

Daccord had thoughts about trying to score on the empty Vegas net, but couldn’t corral a puck in time to set up the shot. That left the glove save off Eichel as his fondest memory from the game, with all the fanfare leading into it also something destined to linger.

“Apart from the game, probably just the first time coming out for the start of warmups with no helmet on and with the beanie (Kraken) hat on, that was pretty cool,” Daccord said. “Just to see that. I’ve never been on the field for something like that before. Just to walk out on to the ice like that and hear the roar of the crowd, it was insane. I’ll never forget it.”

Tolvanen’s opening goal quickly continued the huge crowd’s roars while a first intermission performance of “Barracuda” and “Magic Man” by Heart – fresh off a New Year’s Eve concert at Climate Pledge Arena – kept the stands rocking between periods. Feeding off that energy, the Kraken grabbed a two-goal lead just 2:19 into the second period when Borgen slapped a puck past Thompson for his first goal of the season.

“I don’t score goals often,” Borgen said. “So, it’s pretty fun to get one, especially in an outdoor game.”

Borgen admitted the Kraken at times had as much fun as the fans cheering them on.

“I mean, we tried to make it business once we got out on the ice,” he said. “But that’s hard to do because we were having a lot of fun. So, it was just a good time. We were trying to enjoy every second of it.”

If any one Kraken player used the Winter Classic to increase his public profile, it was man-of-few-words Borgen. Beyond scoring his goal on a national stage, he also featured prominently in the TNT docuseries “Road to the NHL Winter Classic” leading into the contest – giving demonstrations on his cookie -baking skills among other things.

With the home side still leading 2-0 after two, Kraken minority owner and former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch drew the day’s loudest applause during a second intermission on-field “interview” with Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs shown on the JumboTron.

Lynch was playful but, as usual, a man of even fewer words than Borgen, to which ex-Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselback – among many local sports figures being saluted on-field – took the microphone and said, “He’s just here so he won’t get fined.”

That Hasselback reference to Lynch’s words during media day in January 2015 before the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, drew even more thunderous applause from the stands.

Those cheers were still ringing when Gourde raced in alone for a huge third goal two minutes into the final period. At that moment, with the way Daccord has played lately, it was obvious the Kraken would win for only the second time in 10 games against Vegas since inception.

In fact, plenty of fans soon headed for the exits and an early jump to the commute home to perhaps catch the opening of the Washington Huskies-Texas Longhorns in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. As for their part opening a massive day for Seattle sports, the Kraken could not have done more.

“Honestly, it was one of the greatest sporting events that I’ve been involved in or participated in,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said, lauding his team for its early jump and not “chasing the game” as at other times this season.

“You can’t equate it to playoff hockey. But in terms of sporting events, I mean, it was pretty awesome – the feel and just the energy in the stadium throughout the hockey game.”