Kraken cap strong homestand with shutout of Predators

Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist and Joey Daccord made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Seattle Kraken defeated the visiting Nashville Predators 3-0 on Wednesday.

Daniel Sprong scored his first goal in his second stint with the Kraken, and Yanni Gourde tallied on an empty-netter. Chandler Stephenson had three assists and Jaden Schwartz added two helpers.

The Kraken completed a 5-1-0 homestand. Daccord posted all five victories, and he didn't play in a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Juuse Saros stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced as the Predators wrapped up their road trip with a 1-2-2 mark.

It was Seattle's second victory against the Predators this season, as the Kraken also won 7-3 on Oct. 15 in Nashville.

The Kraken outshot Nashville 10-6 in the first period and 17-8 in the second but were able to only get one puck past Saros during that span.

Sprong opened the scoring at 15:55 of the second period.

Montour kept the puck in the zone at the left point and backhanded a pass that split a pair of Nashville defenders and found Stephenson alone in front of the net. Stephenson deked both ways before sliding the puck to Sprong for a tap-in at the left post.

Sprong scored 21 goals for Seattle in 2022-23, when the Kraken reached Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. He was reacquired in a Nov. 8 trade with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Kraken doubled their advantage just 23 seconds into the third period. Stephenson carried the puck over the blue line on the left wing and got to the faceoff dot before sliding a pass across the slot to Montour, who had joined the rush. The defenseman stretched to redirect the puck past Saros as the goalie went from post to post.

Nashville's Tommy Novak appeared to score at 10:38 of the third, but a video review determined he put the puck in the net with a distinct kicking motion and the goal was disallowed.

Gourde sealed the victory with his goal at 17:17.

Kraken forward Shane Wright, the No. 4 overall selection in the 2022 draft, was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Wright has not recorded a point since Oct. 17.

--Field Level Media