From everything prior to the game itself, the Seattle Kraken put on a heck of a show for their first ever outdoor game.

ACTION 🎬

Cc: @odesza & @JayByrdFilms

📺: 2024 @Discover NHL #WinterClassic TODAY at 3p ET on @NHL_On_TNT, @SportsonMax, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/DGNLTsnqqi

— NHL (@NHL) January 1, 2024

I know it's easy to feel jaded with how many outdoor games there are every season but it's important to remember that for the host city, it's an unbelievable event and experience. From the drone shots, the fisherman outfits and everything else, Seattle also dominated the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-0 victory and have now won their last 5 games and points in their last 9.

The scoring opened with a great tip in shot by Tolvanen who recorded his 10th of the season. Since coming to the Kraken last season after being claimed off waivers, Tolvanen has just been a steady presense in the top nine for the Kraken with Predators fans likely cursing their former GM for letting him go for nothing.

As the Knights continued to push and attack Borgen put the team up by two after picking up a juicy rebound and slapping it past Thompson.

Early in the third, Gourde did what Gourde does best; attack relentlessly. As Cotter was trying to collect the puck in his own end, Gourde pressured with speed and suddenly the puck had been pushed past Thompson making it 3-0.

A huge mention needs to be given to Joey Daccord who is quickly finding himself as the Kraken's starting goalie. Daccord has now won his last 4 straight, dating back to December 20th, averaging a ridiculous 0.970SV% in those games, including his shutout performance.

The Pacific Division remains a tough grind. The hot starts of the Canucks, Golden Knights, and Kings have kept them well above the rest of the pack and the Oilers are only two points back of Seattle and have four games in hand.

Like the Oilers, there is nothing Seattle can do about their slow start and simply need to focus on the games in front of them and continue with their recent strong performances. The Kings and Golden Knights have both shown some signs of slipping with a 4-4-2 and 4-6-0 records in their last 10 games respectively.

The Winter Classic was an excellent event hosted by Seattle and hopefully the team will continue to rally off performances like that through January.

Thanks for reading!

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