Flyers, Kraken come off holiday break riding high

Judging by their recent performances, the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken both enjoyed their holiday break.

The Flyers have won two games in a row, and the Kraken swept their three-game California trip leading into the break.

The teams will return to the ice Sunday in Seattle after four days off.

"Three big wins to go into the break. ... We're feeling pretty good right now," Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord said. "It's gonna be a great holiday."

Before wins in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles, the Kraken were in a 1-9-1 slump.

Daccord made 35 saves in Tuesday's 3-2 victory against the Kings, and captain Jordan Eberle scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season.

"We're building," said Kraken forward Matty Beniers, who centers the No. 2 line between Eberle and Kaapo Kakko. "I liked our game (Tuesday). Through the lineup, every guy, every line, every (defensive) pairing. Joey played awesome."

The Kraken also snapped a streak of 17 straight losses (0-16-1) when playing the second game of a back-to-back, a run that dated to March 5, 2024, when Dave Hakstol was still the coach.

Daccord praised the team's "collective effort" in recent games.

"That's how we win," Daccord said. "We're a team that needs everyone going every night, from the net out. And I think these last three games, you saw that, and we executed. And it's fun to see the guys get rewarded."

The three-game streak has taken the Kraken from the cellar to within three points of a wild-card playoff spot in the tightly packed Western Conference.

Seattle won in L.A. without its top two offensive defensemen in Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn.

Montour is out for a month after having surgery on a broken hand suffered in a Dec. 16 fight against Colorado's Brent Burns.

Dunn sustained an upper-body injury in the third period of a 3-1 victory Monday at Anaheim after taking a blind-side hit from the Ducks' Ross Johnston. The Kraken haven't provided an update on Dunn's availability for Sunday's game.

The Flyers also posted back-to-back victories Monday and Tuesday, defeating visiting Vancouver 5-2 before a 3-1 win at Chicago.

Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist against the Blackhawks, and leading scorer Trevor Zegras added an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (five goals, six assists).

Still, it wasn't over until Carl Grundstrom's empty-net goal with 2:08 left.

"It's 82 games - you're not going to feel great some nights," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's the schedule. Everybody goes through it. That's when you've got to really play smart hockey. I talked to the guys before the game. I call this a ‘maturity game.' It was good. You could tell guys were tired. But I thought it was a mature effort."

Noah Cates added a power-play goal for the Flyers.

"It's getting pucks and bodies to the net on the power play," Cates said. "We've kind of been struggling lately, but at the end of the day, we just get it down there and good things happen. Whoever gets the goal gets rewarded, but it's kind of the group effort with the power play and kind of sticking with it and getting things to the net."

This will be the second and final meeting between the Flyers and Kraken this season. Philadelphia posted a 5-2 victory Oct. 20 behind a pair of Owen Tippett goals.

--Field Level Media