Photo Credit: MSG Networks ©2024. Vincent Trocheck scores a goal in first period
NEW YORK—The month of January has been very shaky for the Rangers. So far in 2024, New York has played 8 games and lost 5 of them. And tonight’s game would be no cake walk either—as the Seattle Kraken arrived at MSG with a nine game winning streak in their back pocket.
But strong goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and a return to offensive dominance, gave the Rangers the early lead in tonight’s game and they never looked back.
1st Period Summary
A lot has happened to the Rangers lineup since the start of the new year. Kappo Kakko played in his 2nd straight game, after missing close to three months of action. Mika Zibanejad was back in the lineup after missing one game last week with the flu and Coach Peter Laviolette has been switching line combinations to deal with all the scratched players.
But one player that has shined and been super consistent all season has been Artemi Panarin. And on his first shift of the game, Panarin picked up a loose puck after Ryan Lindgren missed the net and took a shot that also missed. But then he retrieved the rebound and took a second shot that Chris Driedger saved.
Then at 15:42 on the clock Jaden Schwartz took a hooking penalty against Panarin, giving the Rangers their first power play chance of the game. The Kraken played outstanding defense on the penalty kill, not allowing one shot on net.
But not long after they killed the Rangers power play, Justin Schultz got called for a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck into the stands. And that’s when the Rangers went to work.
With 11:38 left in the first period, Vincent Trocheck scored his 14th goal of the season from a brilliant no-look pass from Panarin from the left wing boards to give New York the 1-0 lead.
Then at 11:21 on the clock, Jared McCann took a hard shot that Shesterkin made a fabulous save. On the same shift, Jimmy Vesey tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but gave it away to the Kraken. That’s when McCann was able to get a second shot on goal and then Tomas Tatar took a rebound shot that Shesterkin was forced to make two key saves early in the game.
With 10:46 to go in the first, Barclay Goodrow got called for a roughing penalty against Tatar, giving the Kraken their first man advantage chance.
And it didn’t take long for the Kraken to get on the board. With 9:19 left in the period, Jordan Eberle was able to beat Shesterkin to tie the game up at 1-1. On the goal, Trocheck had possession of the puck and started to skate up ice with it. As he crossed the Seattle blue line, he decided to stop skating and turn around to kill off more time on the penalty.
As he skated back toward the neutral zone, he tried to pass back to K’Andre Miller, but it was intercepted by Oliver Bjorkstrand, who skated the puck into the Rangers zone, then passed to McCann, who then passed back to Eberle, who was trailing the play and Eberle beat Shesterkin top shelf. After the puck went into the net, Trocheck waved his stick in disgust and kept shaking his head, as he knew he made a huge mistake that cost his team a goal.
But so often this season—the Rangers have had unsung heroes pick each other up. And with 8:51 to go in the period, Erik Gustafsson scored on Driedger, who was screened in front by Chris Kreider to regain the 2-1 lead.
End of 1st Period: Rangers 2, Kraken 1
2nd Period Summary
Even though the Rangers had a 2-1 lead after one period, the Kraken have won 9 straight games, which meant Seattle came out for the second period with all their fire power on full display. The Kraken ended the period with 16 shots on net for a two period total of 24 total shots.
And the shooting gallery at Shesterkin started early on. With just 18:54 on the clock, Brandon Tanev took a shot that ended up missing the net, but Tanev got the rebound and took a second shot. Jaden Schwartz then took another shot off that rebound that Shesterkin saved.
A few seconds later, Jamie Oleksiak took a shot and then Eberle grabbed the rebound for a second shot.
It was clear that Shesterkin was dialed in and started to frustrate the Seattle players.
With 7:28 to go in the second, Blake Wheeler made things worse for the Kraken, as he put in his 7th goal of the season, as he deflected a shot from Jonny Brodzinski at the point. Coach Laviolette put Brodzinski, Wheeler and Cuylle together, as a line combination in the previous game and it seems the chemistry is really working for all three players.
After the goal, both teams started to tighten up game play. There was a lot of neutral zone play and both teams kept forcing turnovers of the puck.
But then with 2:59 left in the period, Kappo Kakko scored for the Rangers.
On the goal, New York was able to get the puck out of their own zone up to Kreider, who was in center ice. Kreider made a touch pass over to Zibanejad, who was flying down the ice. As soon as Zibanejad entered the offensive zone, he looked right to see Kakko moving into the slot area.
That’s when Zibanejad passed to Kakko who slapped the puck home for his 3rd goal of the season and gave the Rangers the 4-1 lead.
End of 2nd Period: Rangers 4, Kraken 1
3rd Period Summary
In the modern NHL, even a 4-1 lead isn’t safe. So the Rangers knew that the Kraken would come out strong for the final 20 minutes of hockey. But there was something different about the Rangers team tonight.
The blueshirts seemed to be playing for more. They seemed to be playing with heart and determination, something we have not seen from them since the beginning of he new year.
And right off the opening faceoff, K’Andre Miller checked Yanni Gourde off the puck.
Then with just over 18:00 minutes left in the game, Vesey hit Brian Dumoulin, then Cuylle checked Adam Larson and even Kakko hit Will Borgen.
It’s a very positive sign that the Rangers committed to hitting the body in the 3rd period. Despite the added physical play, New York turned the puck over way too much in the final period.
It was a sheer miracle the Kraken couldn’t turn those turnovers into goals.
But with 8:36 left in the game, Zibanejad got a breakaway chance on Driedger, who was able to make a diving save that kept Seattle in the game. On the play, Zibanejad blocked a pass behind the net in his own zone. Then deflected a pass into the corner boards.
Seattle was able to send the puck up the boards to the point, where Zibanejad deflected the puck past the defenseman and skated down the ice all alone on Driedger.
Then with just 6:24 left in the game, Miller got called for a tripping penalty against Eeli Tolvanen, which gave Seattle an opening to get back into the game. And that’s exactly what they did.
With 5:36 showing on the clock, Jared McCann skated in unchecked and beat Shesterkin over the shoulder for his 17th goal of the season. And more importantly, it cut the lead to 4-2.
New York seemed to settle things down after the bad goal, but then with 3:37 left in the game, the Rangers had another defensive breakdown in their own zone. As Seattle gained the zone, the puck ended up right in front of the net. That’s when Oleksiak jumped on the loose puck and took a shot that Shesterkin snared out of mid air with the glove.
Photo Credit: MSG Networks ©2024. Igor Shesterkin makes an incredible save off shot by Jaime Oleksiak in third period
With around 3:00 left in the game, Seattle decided to pull the goaltender for the extra skater. And with 2:38 to go, Fox recovered the puck in the Rangers zone. He then passed it to Zibanejad who decided to skate the puck up ice.
Several Kraken players surrounded Zibanejad to prevent him shooting on the empty net, so instead he decided to pass back to Wheeler, who had been trailing the play. As soon as Wheeler got the puck, he fired straight into the middle of the empty net for his 2nd goal of the game and 7th goal of the season.
Final Score: Rangers 5, Kraken 2
Were You Impressed by the Win?
Game Analysis:
This was an impressive win overall, despite the Rangers having some glaring holes in their game. The Rangers finished with 20 hits in the game, won 67% of their faceoffs and blocked 15 total shots.
The Rangers also scored on 1 of 2 power play chances, which was a pivotal moment in the game. New York’s power play will be a key factor in their ability to be a Cup contender.
The big problem in tonight’s game were the turnovers, as well as the lack of shots.
Igor Shesterkin played an outstanding game, maybe his best game of the season. As he made 29 saves for a .935% save percentage, which is much more Igor-like numbers.
It was also good to see Kakko get on the board with a goal. As he seems to be fully recovered and ready to play hockey. His career has been utter frustration, since everytime he seems to turn the corner in his career, he ends up getting injured and missing significant time.
With the win, the Rangers put themselves 4 points ahead of the Flyers, who beat the Blues last night 4-2. The Rangers and the Hurricanes still have one game in hand on the Flyers, who are now second in the Metropolitan division standings.
Looking ahead, this is the toughest stretch of the season for the blueshirts, as they start a 10-day road trip to the West Coast tomorrow. The first stop on the road trip is in Vegas to battle the red hot Golden Knights. The Stanley Cup Champions have 55 points on the season (25-14-5) and will be a real test for New York.
The next game is on Thursday night.