Daccord fares well in season debut but Senators fall to Habs
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Author of the article:
Bruce Garrioch 
Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Canadiens crashes into Senators goaltender Joey Daccord during the second period. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images Article content
Joey Daccord fought back tears Tuesday night.
No, the Ottawa Senators rookie goaltender didn’t get the result he wanted with 30 stops in a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but getting a chance to play an NHL game in the Bell Centre with his idol Carey Price in the opposing net was special.
“It was pretty cool. We played here twice with Belleville already but playing against the Habs is different. My dad (Brian) and his side of family is actually from the West Island here in Montreal so there’s 50/50 chance my grandfather tried to sneak into this game,” an emotional Daccord said.
“He probably had a tear running down his eye watching me play against the Habs tonight at the Bell Centre. Yup, it was pretty special. Playing coming out of school was pretty special, I had a lot of friends and family there. Anytime you play in the NHL is a good day and it means the world to me. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a win.”
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Though winger Drake Batherson picked up an assist on the club’s only goal, his six-game goal-scoring streak — which tied a franchise record — came to an end. Only defenceman Artem Zub was able to beat Price on the 27 shots the Senators fired his way.
Tyler Toffoli put it away into an empty net while Jeff Petry and Brendan Gallagher scored for the Habs.
Selected No. 199 overall in the 2015 draft by the Senators, the 24-year-old Daccord was making only his second NHL start and the third appearance of his career. His previous start came on Apr. 4, 2019, when he started against the Buffalo Sabres only days after signing.
“I think have Carey Price’s T-Shirt jersey since I was 13-years-old. He’s been an idol of mine for as long as I can remember. Getting to face off against him was pretty special but, hopefully, I can beat him next time,” Daccord said.
A lot has changed since the Senators scored a 5-4 shootout win over the Habs last Tuesday in Ottawa. The next morning coach Claude Julien was fired and replaced by Dominque Ducharme. Price returned to the net after being given a four-day break to work on his game and this marked Ducharme’s first win behind the bench.
“It’s a matter of inches. We showed good jump and I thought we played a pretty good game. It’s one of those games where he’s one of the best goalies in the NHL, if not the best, and sometimes guys like that steal games,” Sens alternate captain Brady Tkachuk said. “We’ve just got to stick with it.”
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Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes, the Senators had come on at the end of the second and Zub’s second of the season at 18:29 allowed the club to get within a goal. It was pretty impressive to see Zub fire it by Price on the blocker side and inside the post from the circle.
Suddenly, the Senators were back in this one because there were points where it looked like the Habs might take it over. They were making the Senators pay for every mistake and forcing Daccord to keep the club in the game as Montreal pressed to extend its lead after pulling ahead 2-0.
They got ahead in what turned out to be an ugly sequence for the Senators and resulted in two power-play goals by the Habs.
Petry’s blast from the point with the Senators trying to kill off a four-minute man advantage, with Erik Gudbranson in the box for high sticking, gave the Habs a 2-0 lead.
Gallagher opened the scoring with his seventh of the season at 9:28 on the power play. He took a high stick in the face from Gudbranson at the end of a long shift and that resulted in a double-minor against the Ottawa blueliner.
“Joey Daccord was spectacular and he gave us every opportunity to win,” coach D.J. Smith said. “I thought we played 55 minutes of great hockey. We had a five minute breakdown where we lost focus and took a few penalties and it ended up in our net.
“They hadn’t won in a while and they were desperate. We had some opportunities. They’re not going to give you much. You’re going to have to work for your chances. It’s part of the maturing process. If you make a mistake, you’ve just got to get right back to work.”
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The Senators went 12 minutes without so much as a shot on Price. Daccord did his part by challenging the Montreal shooters and making the stops the club needed. He frustrated the Habs and kept the Senators in this one because it could have easily tilted the other way.
The Senators made some changes heading into this one. While Erik Brannstrom returned after being a scratch Monday, rugged winger Micheal Haley also suited up. Smith didn’t like the way the Habs were treating Stuetzle and wanted to have Haley around in case it got rough.
Wanting to make sure top goalie Matt Murray had a couple of days off, the Senators brought Belleville goalie Filip Gustavsson to Montreal to dress as the backup to Daccord.
Murray and the Senators will face the Flames on Thursday on the road.
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