Recap: Seattle Hands Rangers Fourth Straight Loss in 4–2 Defeat

Game 47 of the season the New York Rangers played hosts to the Seattle Kraken for their second meeting of the season. With the first game coming on the road, tonight allowed for a homecoming for two notable former friends. Both Ryan Lindgren and Kaapo Kakko made their return to the Garden for the first time since being dealt last season.

As for the Rangers, they looked to shake things up following the atrocity that was their outing in Boston over the weekend. With a couple of tweaks to the lineup, most notably Brennan Othmann rejoining the mix, the Rangers moved Alexis Lafrenière down to the third line and gave Matt Rempe the night off.

First Period

Hot start for the Rangers as J.T. Miller was called for slashing within the first minute of the period. While the Kraken pretty much dominated throughout the man advantage, the Rangers were able to come out of it unscathed. Upon returning to even strength, Carson Soucy moved the puck ahead to Artemi Panarin who fed Mika Zibanejad once they entered the zone. The shot from Zibanejad went wide but as it bounced off the boards, Zibanejad recovered it and was able to bank it in off of Phillip Grubauer to make it a 1-0 game early. 

The momentum was in full swing as both teams were back and forth with chances. Jonathan Quick made a huge save on a Seattle chance and shortly after, Brennan Othmann was once again inches from his first NHL goal as he rung a shot off the post. 

Just two and a half minutes from Zibanejad’s goal, a great read from Sam Carrick allowed him to take advantage of a Seattle turnover. A quick shot short side was enough to beat Grubauer as Carrick extended the Rangers lead to 2-0. 

During one of the first TV timeouts, Ryan Lindgren wouldn’t get a full video tribute but did get a welcome back shoutout followed by a spirited ovation from the Garden crowd. Kaapo Kakko would receive a similarly warm welcome during the following stoppage.

With about eight minutes to go, the Kraken had another big chance as Ryan Winterton found himself on a breakaway. Quick again was able to keep his composure and made a big save to keep Seattle off the board. That would come as one of the last big chances for the Kraken as the Rangers maintained possession for most of the remainder of the opening period. 

Shots after twenty were 11-9 in New York’s favor as they looked like a completely different team from what we saw in the first period in Boston. The early penalty kill inadvertently gave them some momentum as they were able to convert shortly there after and maintain that energy throughout the period.

Second Period

It would be a rough start to the second as a neutral zone turnover led to an odd man rush for the Kraken. Frederick Gaudreau was able to sauce a pass over to Eeli Tolvanen who beat Quick to cut the Rangers lead in half, 2-1. A lot went wrong on this play but Gabe Perreault having to fumble the puck in his skates was not a great look for anyone involved. 

Less than four minutes later, Kaapo Kakko would pick up his second assist of the night—at least in the moment, the first assist was later taken away—as he found Jordan Eberle wide open high in the slot from behind the net. Eberle had lots of time to let the shot go as he would beat Quick up high to tie the game up 2-2. 

The Kraken had a chance to pick up their first lead of the night as Miller collided with Braden Schneider which allowed for another Seattle odd-man rush. They wouldn’t convert on the chance but to make matters worse, Miller headed straight to the locker room following the collision. 

The Rangers also had a chance to regain the lead as Othmann hit his second post of the night.

With about seven minutes to go, Ryker Evans was called for interference which gave the Rangers their first power play of the evening. While Miller wouldn’t be an option for the start of the power play, he would return for the Rangers in time to take a short shift with the second power play unit. Alas, both units came up empty handed as the score remained tied at two apiece. 

Overall, the second period was a significant step back from what was a great opening period. The Rangers not only surrendered the lead, but were out-shot 9-4 throughout the second with the Kraken now leading 18-15. As a result, all of that momentum established in the first had faded, bringing things back to square one.

Third Period

Just over five minutes in, a bad pinch from Schneider results in another odd-man rush for the Kraken. Jacob Melanson waited for Gavrikov to dive in attempt to block the shot which resulted in the stick of Gavrikov tripping him up, sending the Rangers back to the penalty kill. It's a good thing that side of the Rangers' special teams groups were on their game as the Kraken would have been in full control had they been able to convert with the man advantage.

With about eight minutes to go, a nice feed from Lindgren found Berkly Catton down low and while his shot wouldn't go, Shane Wright's effort on the rebound was enough to give the Kraken their first lead of the night, 3-2.

Immediately following the goal, the "Fire Drury" chants came echoing around the Garden. During which, the Rangers were given a power play as Tolvanen took down Miller. After a minute of accomplishing nothing on the man advantage, the boo's started coming down and following a whistle, the Rangers called a time out with a little less than half the power play to go. That wouldn't help as the Rangers top unit came up empty handed once again with time growing shorter and the patience of fans growing thinner.

With just under two minutes to go, the Rangers pulled Quick for the extra attacker. Having already used their timeout, they weren't able to dedicate much time to drawing anything and despite one or two solid chances, Jared McCann sealed the deal with an empty netter with about eleven seconds left.

The Rangers extend their losing streak to four games in a row as they are now 2-8 in their last ten. Having only won five games in the last calendar month, the Rangers are inching closer and closer to rock bottom and another lost season. It'll be another quick.turn around as they're right back at it on home ice Wednesday Night as they'll take on the Ottawa Senators on home ice.