Rangers vs. Kraken: 3 things to watch for to begin 4-game road trip
The New York Rangers hit the road for a four-game road trip, beginning Sunday at the Seattle Kraken. It starts a stretch for the Rangers where they play six of their next seven games away from Madison Square Garden.
That may not be a bad thing. Get away from the uneasy feeling in their home barn, which grew during their recent 5-4-0 stretch of inconsistent — and often poor — play. Winning teams, championship contenders, often refer to long road trips as important times to bond and grow the overall team game. Let’s see if that holds true here, when the Rangers visit the Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
That’s not exactly a gauntlet for the Rangers to manage this week. Each of those Pacific Division teams is slightly above .500, but none is firing on all cylinders. The Canucks (9-4-3) are the best of the lot, so far this season.
The Kraken (9-8-1) have won four in a row, though, to creep back into the early playoff picture in the Pacific. They edged the Islanders 3-2 at home Saturday and have allowed eight goals in their past four games.
The Rangers (10-4-1) have never lost in regulation to the Kraken. They are 5-0-1 against the fourth-year club. That .917 point percentage is the highest for New York against any active NHL team.
Related: Amid Filip Chytil injury scare, Rangers recall center from AHL Hartford
3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Kraken to begin road trip
1. Heeere’s Jonny
With Filip Chytil back in New York being evaluated for an upper-body injury, Jonny Brodzinski will center the third line against the Kraken. It’s a role the 31-year-old is familiar with, stepping in for the injured Chytil last season, as well, when Brodzinski played an NHL career-high 57 games.
Though coach Peter Laviolette is a big fan of Brodzinski’s, no one is going to tell you that he’s the player Chytil is. Nor that he will have the same chemistry with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko that Chytil does — they’ve outscored opponents 11-0 this season. But if Brodzinski can simply not bog that line down and keep it humming at both ends of the ice, as the Rangers believe he can, then the Rangers can weather Chytil’s absence for a bit.
In limited time this season, Brodzinski has one goal and one assist, averaging 9:11 TOI in seven games on the fourth line.
2. Road warriors
The Rangers are 5-1-0 on the road this season, winning their first four games away from The Garden before an ugly 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Oct. 29. They rebounded with a 4-0 win in Detroit against the Red Wings eight days ago, and remain one of the best road teams in the League again this season.
They won 25 road games last season and in 2021-22. In between they had 24 road wins in 2022-23. That says a lot about this core group and its ability to persevere away from its home rink, achieving this success under two different coaching staffs.
Last season, the Rangers had a similar early-season road test out west and were a perfect 5-0-0, setting the stage for an outstanding regular season that ended with the Rangers winning the Presidents’ Trophy. That trip began with a 4-1 win at the Kraken.
This season, their road points percentage (.833) is third best in the NHL. The Rangers lead the League with 4.83 goals for per road game and 1.67 goals against per road game.
3. Building blocks
The Rangers uneven and often subpar play the past few weeks is well chronicled. Their winning record (5-4-0) in that span masks many of their deficiencies. But perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Despite losing 6-3 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, the Rangers played better than they had recently. The Jets capitalized on their chances and the Rangers, by and large, didn’t. We all know about Mika Zibanejad’s brutal night.
But that game was a small step in the right direction. So, too was their 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks. Yes, the final score was too close for comfort and it can be argued that the Rangers should have run up a larger margin of victory against one of the NHL bottom feeders. But the Rangers were the far better team, vastly out-chanced the Sharks and put up another building block in establishing their overall game again.
They get another opportunity to do that Sunday in Seattle.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Kreider – Zibanejad – Smith
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Brodzinski – Kakko
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
Miller – Fox
Lindgren – Trouba
Jones – Schneider
Quick
Shesterkin
Rangers vs. Kraken: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Seattle Kraken
When: Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Climate Pledge Arena
How to Watch: MSGSN
Click here for New York Rangers complete 2024-25 schedule and game results
More About:New York Rangers News
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