Kraken Struggle Offensively vs. Rangers, Fall 3-2 in Overtime
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Seattle Kraken once again salvaged a point in the standings by the skin of their teeth, but did so falling in overtime for the second time in a week.
On Tuesday, it was Cole Caufield lifting the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-4 overtime victory, and after three days off for the Kraken with intense focus on 5-on-5 during practices, it was a similar result on Saturday against the New York Rangers, as J.T. Miller connected with Will Cuylle for the 3-2 overtime winner.
New York had plenty of chances to win the game in regulation – outshooting Seattle 27-13, dominating offensive zone time and generating nine shots on goal across three scoreless power-play opportunities – but Joey Daccord (24 saves) led the push past regulation.
“We don’t want to spend this much time in our zone,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “We’re battling when we do, but again, the first period was a classic example of what we’ve been talking about all year long. … We’ve got to find a way out of our zone better and have more composure and have more poise. Bottom line.
“We turn the puck over and spend another 30-40 seconds in our zone. So we wonder why. That’s why.”
Lambert added that the team passed up too many shots, and whenever they did get opportunities, they were often sent wide, citing Ryan Winterton’s miss on a 2-on-1 with Tye Kartye early in the second period, a Chandler Stephenson miss later in the frame and another from Matty Beniers in overtime off a pass from Jordan Eberle.
If he rattled off every single one, he might still be talking. He also credited the Rangers for getting into Seattle’s shooting lanes and limiting their opportunities, but he acknowledged the Kraken need to be more aggressive offensively.
“I thought we passed up shots, and we had opportunities to shoot pucks from even bad angles and create a second opportunity, and we didn’t,” Lambert said. “So it’s fair to say (we didn’t have a shoot-first mentality) and we have to do it better.”
The Kraken were boosted by their special teams, with Stephenson tying the game 1-1 at 12:49 of the second period following a solid passing sequence on the power play, and the penalty kill went 3-for-3.
Daccord stopped three shots on New York’s first power-play opportunity early in the first period, and Ryan Lindgren stepped in to block a shot and later clear out the puck facing his former team for the first time.
The Rangers appeared to score on their second opportunity midway through the second period amid a net-front flurry, but it was ultimately overturned for goalie interference. Prior to that, Alexis Lafreniere sent a shot off the post and Miller whiffed with an open net in front of him, while Winterton and Beniers each stepped up to disrupt play between a couple more Daccord saves.
“I think with every team you’re going to see different plays,” Daccord said. “Like what they like to do and what they’re trying to do. New York’s a team with a ton of skill, likes to make a ton of plays, so a little bit more complicated power play than some of the other teams that we play, so it’s just really being aware of all their threats and what they’re trying to look for.”
A Lindgren hooking penalty with six seconds left in the second period allowed New York to open the third with nearly the full two minutes on the man-advantage, and they once again threatened to score, but misses from Mika Zibanejad and Lafreniere paired with a couple more stops from Daccord kept the dangerous unit off the board.
“I thought we did a pretty good job, in certain areas,” Lambert said. “But they did hit a couple of seams on us. We were fortunate, and our goaltender played well.”
Ironically, New York opened the scoring on more of a fluky play, when a Vladislav Gavrikov shot from the left point hit off the knob of Daccord’s stick and back into the net at 10:16 of the first period.
Just 1:01 after Stephenson tied it on the power play, the Rangers pulled back ahead when Noah Laba poked the puck away from Beniers in the neutral zone to spark a rush between Lafreniere and Cuylle. Cuylle fired a shot on net, which Daccord kicked out with his left foot, but Laba trailed behind and crashed in to punch in the rebound at 13:50.
Brandon Montour tied it 2-2 at 6:59 of the second period after Beniers’ line established offensive zone possession, and held it long enough for the next line to take over. Jaden Schwartz rolled into the right corner, pulling the Rangers defenders deeper into the zone before dishing out to Montour for a one-timer behind the right circle.
In addition to Lindgren facing his former team, it also marked the first time for Kaapo Kakko, who made his season debut on Saturday after missing the first 10 games with a broken hand he sustained in the preseason.
The 24-year-old winger said he was able to work out and skate amid his injury, but he still felt tired getting back into game action for the first time. He called it a special night, getting to return while facing his “good friends” on the Rangers, who selected him second overall in the 2019 NHL Draft before trading him to Seattle in December last season.
Kakko played 14:16, with 48 seconds on the power play. He spent most of the game playing alongside Mason Marchment and Shane Wright before Lambert shortened the bench and shuffled up the combinations a bit late in the game.
In 8:13 of ice time together at 5-on-5, the trio matched New York in shots (1-1, each high-danger chances), but were overall out-chanced 4-2, according to Natural Stat Trick. A strong forechecking effort from Kakko set up the shot on goal from Marchment at 13:19 of the first period.
“That was the first time playing with both of those guys,” Kakko said. “We never been playing together, I usually played with (Beniers) last year, so I think it takes always some time (when you) start to play with new guys, but there’s a couple good things. I think we got one pretty good chance, but that could be better also.”
Lambert felt Kakko looked good for someone who had not played a meaningful game since April, and that his size and strength should help the team low in the offensive zone going forward.
Help that Kakko acknowledged is needed going forward.
“Not too many goals, but we’re still getting points and winning games,” Kakko said. “So that’s a good thing, but yeah, that’s something we have to do more. Create offense and get more goals.”
