Ex-New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko is first star after 2-goal game in Kraken win at Buffalo

Kaapo Kakko needed just 10 games after being traded by the New York Rangers to the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 18, 2024, to score twice in a game for the seventh time in his NHL career – and the first time in nearly three years.
Kakko was named the game’s first star after his two goals helped the visiting Kraken end a four-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Actually, Kakko needed just 1:40 of the third period to notch the fifth two-goal game of his career, making him the fastest player in Kraken history to score two goals. The Finnish forward, taken by the Rangers with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, second his second goal since the trade when he beat goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a wrist shot from the right circle 3:46 into the third period, giving Seattle a 4-2 lead.
Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin took a tripping penalty at 4:17, and Kakko made the Sabres pay at 5:26 when he scored his second goal of the game, beating Luukkonen from the slot off a pass from the left corner by Jared McCann, to put the Kraken up by three in what became a 6-2 victory that ended an 0-3-1 slide for the Kraken (18-22-3).
Kakko was named first star after finishing with two goals on two shots as well as being credited with two hits, one takeaway and one blocked shot; he also won his only face-off. The Kraken, who trailed 2-0 before scoring six times, won their NHL-leading sixth game when trailing by multiple goals.
The goals were Kakko’s second and third with the Kraken and his sixth and seventh of the season. The first four came with the Rangers; the last of those came on Nov. 30 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ex-Ranger Kakko scores twice for Kraken in win at Buffalo
Kakko has seven points (three goals, four assists through 10 games with the Kraken, after putting up 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) with the Rangers. He’s averaging .7 points per game with the Kraken, which would translate to 57 points over an 82-game season. His career high is 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) in 2022-23.
The third and fourth two-goal games of Kakko’s career also came against Buffalo, both at Madison Square Garden during his second NHL season. He scored twice in a 5-3 win on March 22, 2021, and again in a 6-3 win on April 25, 2021.
Kakko also scored two goals in 2019-20, his rookie season. He had the first multiple-goal game of his NHL career on Nov. 12, 2019, when he scored twice in the Rangers’ 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Garden, then had two goals in a 4-2 road win against the Dallas Stars on March 10, 2020.
Before Saturday, he hadn’t scored more than one goal in a game since 2021-22; he had two in a 3-2 road win against the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 15, 2021, and in a 4-2 victory against the Flyers in Philadelphia on April 13, 2022. Ironically, his best goal-scoring season came when he had 18 in 2022-23 – all in one-goal games.
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