Dave Hakstol, Seattle Kraken win NHL Winter Classic
Jan. 1—GRAND FORKS — The Seattle Kraken arrived at the Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park wearing fisherman's gear.
Head coach Dave Hakstol wore a letterman-style jacket on the bench, just as he did when UND play its outdoor game.
His team got the job done.
Seattle beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in the NHL's Winter Classic at the home of the Seattle Mariners.
Former Moorhead High defenseman Will Borgen scored for the Kraken, who now have points in nine-straight games — a record for the third-year franchise.
Hakstol called the event "one of the greatest sporting events I've been involved in, for sure. It was pretty awesome."
Joey Daccord, who played college hockey at Arizona State, became the first netminder to post a shutout in the Winter Classic. he stopped 35 shots.
Eeli Tolvanen and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Kraken.
The temperature for the opening faceoff at the Seattle Mariners' ballpark was 42 degrees under cloudy skies. With no rain, the stadium's retractable roof remained open throughout the game.
The Golden Knights arrived wearing Elvis costumes, while Kraken players donned white T-shirts with orange overalls and stocking caps in a nod to the fishmongers at Pike Place Market. The Kraken were led off their bus by part-owner Marshawn Lynch, the former Seattle Seahawks running back.
A nautical theme was found throughout the park, with players walking from the dugouts to the rink on makeshift docks adorned with buoys.
The Kraken opened the scoring at 4:50 of the first period. Tolvanen set up at the top of the crease and tipped Vince Dunn's shot from the left point past Thompson.
Seattle made it 2-0 at 2:19 of the second. A screened Thompson got a leg pad on a shot from Tye Kartye but couldn't control the rebound, which rolled to Borgen at the top of the right faceoff circle. Borgen's slap shot knuckled between Thompson's left arm and body and into the net. Tolvanen got the second assist.
Gourde scored on a short breakaway at 2:10 of the third after stealing the puck from Vegas' Paul Cotter at the top of the faceoff circles.
Hakstol improved to 2-1 behind the bench in outdoor games.
He won one while at UND, beating Omaha 5-2 in T.D. Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series. He lost one while he was the head coach of the Philadephia Flyers. They fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
