On a night that started with a lighting malfunction that halted play for more than 10 minutes early in the first period, the night grew darker for the Kraken with a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers to finish the opening homestand with one win in three tries. The Kraken travel Sunday for a four-game road trip that starts in Detroit Tuesday.
Bad enough, but arguably worse was the prospect of losing forward Andre Burakovsky for any extended period after he fell awkwardly after a hit by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. The New York captain was penalized for boarding but the Kraken could not convert on the ensuing powerplay.
A subdued Dave Hakstol addressed Burakovsky’s status when asked post-game: “I’ll wait until tomorrow [Sunday] morning to make sure. But I don't think it's going to be something that's real short-term. We'll give you an update in the morning when we have real clear information on it.”
While Burakovsky remained in the locker room, Trouba returned to play and assisted on the Rangers’ go-ahead goal, firing a shot that trickled through Philipp Grubauer’s pads, affording young NYR forward Kaapo Kakko a tap-in that would be a gimme putt during any friendly round of golf. New York added an insurance goal before the end of the second period when center Filip Chytil, who assisted on the Rangers’ first goal scored by Artemi Panarin, turned in another beauty of a helper, feeding Alexis Lafreniere's net front.
Rangers fans are no doubt hoping both Kakko (first goal this year) and Lafreniere (second goal) are finally poised to become the stars matching where they were picked in the NHL Draft. Kakko was No. 2 overall in 2019 and Lafreniere was selected first overall in 2020.
“We put ourselves in a decent position after 20 minutes,” said Hakstol, “and in the second period we took ourselves out of the game [Seattle had just two shots on goal].”
“It was more of what we were doing or not doing,” said Kraken D-man Justin Schultz when asked whether the second period downturn was more New York or Seattle doing. “We weren’t skating like we can, turning over pucks, just all around wasn’t a great effort at all tonight.”
Panarin scored again five-and-a-half minutes into the final period on the Rangers’ 20th shot of the contest with Chytil earning his third assist of the night. Seattle had mustered only 12 shots on goal to that juncture. The Kraken finished with 19 shots on goal on Jonathan Quick, 37, the two-time Cup winner in Los Angeles who made his first start for the team he idolized as a youngster growing up in Milford, CT.
The game grew even darker and uglier mid-third period when NYR star defenseman Adam Fox got the worst of a collision with Yanni Gourde, who did some shoving in front of the Rangers bench. NYR forward Chris Kreider then pushed Gourde from behind. The result was double-minors on Gourde and Kreider with Gourde getting whistled for a 10-minute misconduct. The home crowd cheered the fan-favorite Kraken as he skated off to the locker room with eleven minutes remaining. After penalties were assessed, SEA coach Dave Hakstol engaged in an animated conversation with the referees.
On the next shift, Kraken forward Jared McCann and Rangers center Vincent Trocheck squared off for a scrap that sent both players to the penalty box for roughing.
Burakovsky Exits with Injury Second Period
In his sixth game back from a groin injury that sidelined him the entire second half and playoffs last season after finishing the first half as the Kraken’s leading scorer, forward Andre Burakovsky was boarded by Rangers defenseman and captain Jacob Trouba at the 5:53 mark of the second period.
Burakovsky, clearly in pain and favoring his right-side upper body, skated off on his own power but headed straight to the Kraken dressing room while Trouba headed to the penalty box. Burakovsky did not return and there was no update from Dave Hakstol after the game.
Lighter (and Weirder) Side
Just 69 seconds into Saturday’s inter-conference matchup with the New York Rangers, a lighting malfunction halted play for more than 10 minutes. Players from both squads skated an impromptu warmup to stay ready for game actions. Mid-period (9:50 left to be exact), the goaltenders switched sides to even out any vision advantage/disadvantage. The switch worked out with both goalies surrendering goals on the visitor's end of the ice.
Justin Schultz beat NYR backup goalie Jonathan Quick with a mid-range shot (wide-open look) to the right of the net. Rangers scoring star Artemi Panarin notched his sixth point in five games (two goals, four assists) to this tilt at 1-1 after the goalie switch. The New York forward beat Philipp Grubauer on another open look, this time from the left side of the net
“It felt weird, a little sloppy at both sides,” said SEA defenseman Justin Schultz.
The official word from the Kraken during the game: “There was an electrical issue with the arena lighting grid that is currently being evaluated. The teams’ goaltenders will switch nets after the 10-minute mark in each period to accommodate.”
The goalies continued to switch ends in the second and third periods. During the middle 20 minutes, neither squad scored on that visitor's end but the Rangers connected at the home bench on the first faceoff after the goalie switch, which came at the first whistle after the 10-minute mark. The Rangers added a goal late period to finish 40 minutes at 3-1 on the scoreboard and leading in shots on goal with 18 (nine in each of the first two periods) while the Kraken recorded 10 shots on goal to that point (just two in the middle 20 minutes).
Dumoulin Sets Up D-Partner
After the lighting malfunction, the Kraken didn’t record a shot on goal for nearly eight minutes of play, but the next one was more than worth the wait when Justin Schultz opened the scoring on a one-timer set up by his defensive partner, Brian Dumoulin. Schultz became the second Seattle D-man to score a goal this season, following Vince Dunn’s score on Thursday in the 7-4 win over Carolina.
