Key takeaways after Rangers defeat Kraken 3-2 in OT for 3rd straight win
The New York Rangers were finally rewarded for dominating play all night long when Will Cuylle scored at 2:42 of overtime for a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.
The Rangers outshot the Kraken 27-13, out-attempted them 72-41 and were 41-25 in the face-off circle. But none of that mattered until Cuylle buried a pass from J.T. Miller past Joey Daccord to give the Rangers (6-5-2) their second straight overtime win and third in a row overall. They finished 3-1-0 on this four-game trip though Western Canada and Seattle. It’s the first time since Nov. 14-19 of last year that the Rangers won three in a row
Igor Shesterkin had to make just 11 saves and went long stretches without facing a shot while his teammates controlled play. The Kraken had two good chances in OT, but Matty Beniers misfired on an opportunity at the right post and Shesterkin stopped Eeli Tolvanen’s backhander from the slot.
Cuylle, who extended his points streak to four games with an assist earlier in the night, then scored the game-winner, his first goal since Oct. 11.
“It’s nice to get on the score sheet a bit on this trip and help the team out,” he said.
The Rangers owned the first period and could have skated off with a bigger lead than the 2-1 advantage they held after 20 minutes.
New York dominated the first half of the period but didn’t score until Vladislav Gavrikov recorded his first goal with the Rangers at 10:16. The defenseman’s shot from the left point sailed through traffic, went off the glove of Daccord and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Seattle had just two shots on goal before Urho Vaakanainen took a hooking penalty at 11:59, and the Kraken capitalized on their first power play to get even. Chandler Stephenson set up in the left circle, took a pass from Vince Dunn and beat Shesterkin over the glove to make it 1-1.
But the tie lasted just 61 seconds, thanks to Noah Laba. Daccord stopped Cuylle’s shot but left a rebound, and Laba bulled past Jordan Eberle to reach the puck first and bang it home.
Neither team did much for the rest of the first period and the first few minutes of the second, with the Rangers doing an excellent job of keeping the Kraken to the outside, getting sticks into passing lanes and keeping the slot clear. But Seattle finally got some zone time around the six-minute mark, tired out the Rangers on the ice and got the tying goal at 6:59, working the puck around the zone until Brandon Montour teed up a shot from just above the right circle that beat Shesterkin to make it 2-2.
Cuylle appeared to give the Rangers their third lead at 11:47 by knocking in a loose puck during a power-play scramble. But the goal was quickly waved off for goaltender interference; referees Graham Skilliter and Jordan Samuels-Thomas ruled that Cuylle pushed Daccord back into the net.
The period ended 2-2 despite the Rangers allowing just eight shots on goal through 40 minutes.
The third period was more of the same, with the Rangers controlling play but unable to score. Miller had the best chance to win the game in regulation, but Daccord got to the back post just in time to deny him after a nice pass from Adam Fox.
Two former Rangers, defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Kaapo Kakko, faced their old team for the first time since each was traded last season. Lindgren was plus-1 and took a minor penalty in 19:54 of ice time; Kakko, making his season debut after sitting out Seattle’s first 10 games with a broken hand, had one shot on goal in 14:16.
The Rangers head home and are off until Tuesday when the Carolina Hurricanes pay a visit to Madison Square Garden.
Key takeaways from Rangers’ 3-2 overtime win in Seattle
1. Regrouping and rebounding
What a difference a few days makes.
Gloom and doom were everywhere after the Rangers began this trip with a stinker – a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, who hadn’t won since opening night and were last in the overall standings. It was a poor performance all around.
But instead of moping, the Rangers regrouped. They shut out the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 behind backup goaltender Jonathan Quick, and then overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period before defeating the Oilers 4-3 in overtime.
This game wasn’t pretty, but the Rangers once again found a way to win. Instead of gloom, there were plenty of smiles on the flight home. The biggest one likely belonged to coach Mike Sullivan.
“I give the guys a lot of credit,” he said. “This is not an easy trip to come out here. We lose the first game in Calgary, and to rebound the way we did just speaks volumes, I think, for the character of the guys. You can feel the energy around the team. I feel like we’ve earned our swagger back through our sweat equity.”
2. Persistence pays off
Unlike their 4-3 overtime in Edmonton two nights earlier, the Rangers controlled play in this game almost all night. They had a 10-3 advantage in high-danger scoring chances in all situations (6-1 at 5-on-5), according to Natural Stat Trick. Shesterkin’s biggest task for much of the night was staying alert when the puck was at the other end of the ice.
It was the kind of game that would have been easy to lose — but they didn’t. Shesterkin made the big save the Rangers had to have in overtime before Miller, the OT hero against the Oilers, set up Cuylle for the game-winner.
Sullivan was delighted with the way his team controlled play shift after shift – and found a way to win after an often-frustrating first 60 minutes.
“I thought tonight might’ve been our best, just as far as controlling territory, defending hard, limiting shot quantity and quality,” he said. “I thought it was a complete effort by everybody. All four lines were involved.”
3. Wins needed at home
The Rangers are 6-1-1 away from home after their swing through the West. That’s the best road record in the NHL.
But three of their next four games are at Madison Square Garden, where they are 0-4-1. It’s their worst start at home since 1943-44, when a World-War II-ravaged team finished 6-39 with five ties.
The Blueshirts can’t fritter away any more Garden games, especially because the next two are against the Hurricanes and Islanders, a pair of Metropolitan Division rivals.
One thing that would help is an improved power play. After they were 4-for-30 in October (29th in the League), the Rangers began November 0-for-3 and not generating a lot of pressure against the Kraken.
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