There was only one NHL game on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 8), but fans who tuned in for the match pitting the Seattle Kraken against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden got a good one. In a complete reversal of the Rangers’ 2-0 win in Seattle back on Nov. 17, the Kraken returned the favor with a 7-5 win in a game where defense and netminding were optional.
Rangers Come Out Strong
To say that the past few weeks have forced the Rangers to navigate rocky waters would be putting it mildly. For that matter, the past 48 hours have been wild, what with the trade that sent captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (Dec. 6).
For a while on Sunday, New York appeared to successfully negate the negative vibes. Early in the first period, the hosts pressed in Seattle’s zone. The disc careened around the boards and onto Reilly Smith’s stick. He sent a relatively harmless wrister from the point – no traffic – that somehow trickled through the Kraken’s Philipp Grubauer. 1-0 Rangers at 3:36.
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Seattle responded quickly in the second period (1:46) when their power play connected. Oliver Bjorkstrand was left alone in front of Jonathan Quick and he made good on a pass from Chandler Stephenson.
But New York was determined to put their stamp on the contest, at least for a while. Peter Laviolette’s men reclaimed the lead through Filip Chytil, who almost single-handedly outplayed every Kraken player from deep in the Rangers zone with magical puck handling. The team broke out, with Chytil on the receiving end of the final pass in the slot to send the biscuit into the basket at 2:50 and a 2-1 advantage.
Vincent Trocheck would then make it 3-1 on the power play at 4:47 when he pounced on a fortuitous puck trajectory as it bounced off the backboard following a wide shot and into the slot where the 31-year-old sniper was waiting and ready to fire.
The Rangers had this one in the bag, right?
The Kraken Erupt
Seattle had other plans, and the response came from the fourth line. At 14:06 of the second, Mitchell Stephens earned his first NHL point by assisting on Brandon Tanev’s goal in the crease to make it 3-2.
That seemed to destabilize the hosts, who executed woeful coverage of Eeli Tolvanen at 15:34 when he destroyed a one-timer in the slot to level the terms 3-3.
Things snowballed in the Kraken’s favor at 19:24 when they won a faceoff in New York’s end. Brandon Montour sent a shot from the line that was deftly redirected through traffic by Bjorkstrand. Suddenly, it was 4-3 for Seattle.
The visitors pressed onward early in the third period when defenseman Vince Dunn blasted a long-range shot that went post and in at exactly 1:00 for a 5-3 advantage. There was no stopping the Kraken, who made it 6-3 at 11:13 through Shane Wright. The young sniper flashed towards the net to tip in a Tolvanen pass from the boards on a rush. Seattle had rattled off five consecutive goals.
Amazingly, the game was far from over, as K’Andre Miller (through a bad angle shot) and Alexis Lafreniere made it 6-5 at the 12:27 and 14:57 marks. Only a Yanni Gourde empty-netter at 18:14 would calm the Kraken’s nerves.
The most ironic thing about the game was that, despite conceding five goals on 37 shots, Grubauer made some sensational saves that limited the already considerable damage, not to mention make up for a couple of very weak goals.
The Kraken conclude their travels with a 3-1-0 record on their trip. They’ll be back home to face the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (Dec. 10). As for the Rangers, they’ll try to rebound on Monday (Dec. 9) when they welcome the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
