Rangers haunt Kraken on Halloween

On a night when fans filed into the Climate Pledge Arena wearing their favorite Halloween costumes, the Seattle Kraken’s game with the New York Rangers was a trick and not a treat for the home squad.

Despite outplaying their guests for long periods, the Kraken dropped a 3-1 decision before their fourth consecutive sellout crowd. The loss ended a modest two-game home winning streak for the Kraken (3-5-1) and marked the fifth road victory of the young season for the Rangers (6-2-1).

Hockey’s been called a game of transition and that was the case on New York’s game-winning goal at 12:40 of the third period. Ranger goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin, the game’s number-one star, made a point blank save on the Kraken’s Brandon Tanev and Adam Fox, the current Norris Trophy Winner (best defenseman) took the puck up ice.

Fox passed across to Artemi Panari, the team’s leading scorer, who came down the left wing boards and returned the pass to Fox, who rifled a shot home from the slot past Kraken keeper Philipp Grubauer. New York’s Barclay Goodrow finished the scoring with an empty netter in the final minute.

“You’re gonna win some games you should lose, you’re gonna lose some games you should win, and I think this one was one of them,” Grubauer said. “We didn’t capitalize on our chances, but overall I think we did a pretty good job.”

The Kraken continues to be plagued by a slow start. New York’s Chris Kreider scored his seventh goal of the season at 3:38 of the first period. But Seattle dominated the second period outshooting the `Broadway Blueshirts’ by an 11-2 margin.

Just when it was beginning to look like the Kraken might never get a shot past Shesterkin, Jordan Eberle tied the game at 13:46. After taking a pass from linemate Jaden Schwartz in the right circle, Eberle made as spin-around move in the right circle and fooled Shesterkin with a backhander. A few minutes earlier, Schwartz had missed an open net.

“We deserved a better fate,” said Seattle coach Dave Hakstol. “Our guys work their tails off. The only part I didn’t like was our transition game. (New York) is excellent in transition. But there’s not a lot to be disappointed about.”

While they didn’t get on the scoresheet, Tanev and Yanni Gourde provided a lot of energy for the Kraken in the second period, both in scoring opportunities and getting in the faces of the (bigger) Ranger defensemen. However, Gourde also missed a golden scoring opportunity when he couldn’t lift a puck over the sprawled Shesterkin.

Seattle concludes its first ever homestand with a 2-2 record. More troubling, the team was blanked on the power play 0-14 in the four games and 0-4 last night.

“We had a lot of chances,” said Eberle.  “A loss is always tough when you carry the play. The plus is you figure if you work hard the bounces will start going your way. We need to find a way to get more timely goals and get the power play going. You can’t teach goal scoring. There are different ways to score. Some guys work hard around the net and others are great shooters.”

The Kraken remain optimistic as they head to Edmonton tonight to face the Pacific Division leading Oilers.

“I think everybody’s heading in the right direction,” Grubauer said. “Obviously, the first couple of games I think everybody’s coming from different systems. So now we’ve actually played a lot of minutes together.”

GAME NOTES

• With Mason Appleton placed on injury reserve, Max McCormick was recalled from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League and made his Kraken debut. McCormick, who played for the Carolina Hurricanes last season, was signed by the Kraken during the pre-season. McCormick probably saw more ice time than he expected as Jared McCann, the Kraken’s leading point getter (along with assistant coach Paul McFarland) was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol before the game. McCormick had three shots on goal on 10 shifts.
• “We found out about Jared and Paul (yesterday) morning,” said Hakstol. “It’s part of our world today.” Hakstol wouldn’t speculate on when McCann and McFarland would return.
• Several members of the Kraken and Rangers were teammates at one time or another in their travels around the National Hockey League. But perhaps no current Kraken and Ranger are connected more than Seattle’s Brandon Tanev and the Rangers’ Kevin Rooney. They played on Providence College’s number-one line in 2016. In the NCAA championship game against Boston University, Rooney won the faceoff back to Tanev who fired home what proved to be the winning goal and gave the PC Friars their only NCAA hockey championship. On the `Spittin’ Chiclets’ podcast, Tanev noted that he and Rooney still vacation together in the summer. In the second period of last night’s contest after Tanev received a penalty for interference he took a poke at Ranger defensemen Ryan Lindberg hoping to draw an off-setting penalty. Players from both teams came together and the larger Rooney put a solid headlock on Tanev. Something to talk about in the summer.
• Speaking of college hockey, the Kraken’s number-one entry draft selection (second overall) Matty Beniers is centering the top line and serving as the sole underclassman of the University of Michigan’s four alternate captains, Beniers has wasted no time consistently producing on the score sheet for the Wolverines. Beniers has points in five of Michigan’s seven games so far this season with a goal and two assists on the power play and an assist in 4-on-4 play during Michigan’s recent win over Wisconsin.
• With last night’s loss, the Kraken are now 1-1 against hockey’s fabled `original six,’ – the Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings. The Kraken defeated Montreal 5-1 earlier in the week. The name is actually misleading. Those teams were NOT the `original six’ teams in the NHL. The Rangers didn’t come into existence until 1926, the Kraken defeated the Canadiens for the Stanley Cup in 1917.However that sextet comprised the NHL from 1942 to 1967. In 1967, attempting to become more of a national sport, the NHL actually doubled the league adding the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings and the Oakland Seals (since disbanded). It wasn’t until then that sportswriters started referring to the non-expansion teams as the `original six.’
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GAME SUMMARY

1^st Period

NY – Chris Kreider (Barclay Goodrow) 3:38.

2^nd Period

S – Justin Eberle (Jaden Schwartz, Adam Larsson) 13:46.

3^rd Period

NY – Adam Fox (Artemi Panarin) 12:10

NY – Goodrow (Mika Zibanejad) empty net, 18:31.

Goals/Saves – NY: Igor Shesterkin 1-31. S: Philipp Grubauer 2-16.

Penalties – NY: 4-8. S: 2-4.

Referees – Dan O’Rourke, Wes McCauley. Linesmen – Shander Alphonso, Travis Toomey.

Attendance – 17, 151.