Final Buzzer: Rangers Outlast Kraken

NEW YORK -- During their last two games, the New York Rangers have jumped out to 2-0 leads only to lose those leads and, ultimately, the games. In a Sunday matinee, the Kraken, after being down 2-0 themselves, tied the game with 68 seconds left on a wicked shot by Yanni Gourde.

Seven minutes into the second period, Seattle halved the two-goal lead via a picture-perfect scoring play from the Marcus Johansson-Jared McCann-Jordan Eberle line.
New York came out from the second intermission motivated to score the next goal and restore their two-goal margin. But the visiting Kraken continued their defense-first system and kept the game close and exciting for Seattle fans by generating more shots on goal and scoring chances.
In fact, Seattle finished with 42 shots on goal, the highest of the season and in franchise history.
The Kraken also hit two goal posts (McCann and Adam Larsson) on the day, plus the Rangers blocked 22 shot attempts.
The joy of the Seattle comeback was cut achingly short when NYR defenseman K'Andre Miller wristed a shot past Kraken forward Riley Sheahan and then on past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer to make it 3-2 with 34 seconds left. Miller's third goal of the season, scored 34 seconds after the tying goal, stood for a 3-2 final.

Following a faceoff win by Rangers center Mika Zibanejad and shoveled back to Miller, NYR winger Chris Kreider knocked down Sheahan in what Kraken TV analyst JT Brown called "definitely a penalty" during the ROOT SPORTS Northwest broadcast. A player without the puck is entitled to the ice in front of him, unless an opponent gets there first, which was not the case with Kreider moving toward Sheahan and running him over.
On the KJR 950/iHeart radio call, analyst Dave Tomlinson told listeners Sheahan was "interfered with and couldn't get in the shooting lane."
Sheahan, who is just three games short of playing in his 600th NHL game, was still on the ice when the puck sailed over and past him. The veteran center saw the puck get past Grubauer as he was scrambling to his knees. Sheahan immediately popped up to protest with on-ice officials but to no avail. For newer fans: Such a play or non-call is not reviewable.
After the game, Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said he was choosing "to stay away from it" when asked about the Rangers' final goal.
"The reason is I'm not going to waste time on that play," said Hakstol, "or how I feel about it because I think that would take away from the spotlight how well I think our team played and how hard I think our team played today ... For the most part, we played a pretty damn good road game."
Gourde said he and his teammates were understandably disappointed with the result but told the post-game media scrum, "I'm proud of our guys ... we battled hard."
The Kraken lost just their second game when allowing two or fewer goals. They came into Sunday with a 10-1-1 record in such contests.

Frenzied Finish

Seattle got a break on a late third-period tripping penalty to set up a power play. But the best chance of the first 96 seconds of man-advantage didn't overly challenge Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin. Hakstol used his allotted one coach's timeout with 1:29 remaining in the game and 24 seconds left on the power play.
Kraken forward Calle Jarnkrok had scored two goals in his last five games and was prospering on the penalty-kill unit going into Sunday's early afternoon warmups. He was on the ice pre-game testing an upper-body injury from Thursday's win in Pittsburgh and, as it turned out, the injury kept him out of Sunday's lineup.
Morgan Geekie, who last played against Florida a week ago, returned to play with Sheahan and Karson Kuhlman while their recent lineman, Colin Blackwell, moved to Jarnkrok's spot to skate with Gourde and Mason Appleton. Geekie had a memorable scoring attempt on a power-play shift, prevented by yet another quality save by Shesterkin.
The line juggling continued when Kuhlman put a clean hit on NYR defenseman Libor Hajek in the center-ice neutral zone in the first period but then fell awkwardly in the boards. Kuhlman skated directly across to the Kraken bench, favoring his left side. He played only four shifts, totaling two minutes 22 seconds, and has also looked to be in a good flow in all zones in recent games.
Hakstol said there is no update on the Jarnkrok and Kuhlman injuries, suggesting the team will know more Monday.

Picture-Perfect First Goal for Kraken

The Kraken chipped away at the lead with a scoring sequence any coach would love, no matter what style of play is on the white board. The play started with Kraken defenseman Larsson rimming a puck up the right boards from the corner.
A Rangers forward was attempting to intercept the puck but D-man Jeremy Lauzon poke-checked the puck a few feet up ice to Eberle.
Eberle turned on his formidable speed to get the puck into the neutral zone and beyond, passing it to linemate Johansson in the NYR zone. Johansson moved the puck quickly to an onrushing McCann, who wired it just as rapidly to Eberle. That's when Eberle executed a picture-perfect pass back to McCann. It marked Eberle's first assist and point in nine games.
The Kraken's goal leader notched his 18th on a quick-release shot that threaded through the leg pads of Shesterkin. The Rangers goalie, quickly joining the elite level at his position, finished the night with 40 saves.

Miller Stopped Earlier on Breakaway

With less than eight minutes remaining in regulation and the teams playing 4-on-4, Miller poked the puck away from Eberle at the NYR blue line. Miller collected the spinning puck and sped to a breakaway on Grubauer. The Kraken goalie, who turned in another solid game, stayed with Miller all the way to make the save.

Early Work and Defense-First Approach

The Rangers spent significant time in the Kraken defensive zone in the first six-plus minutes of the game. But the potent NYR offense didn't register a shot on goal in that timeframe and managed just six SOG in the opening 20 minutes. Kraken defensemen and forwards alike were getting sticks on pucks and passes throughout.
For fans who fret a bit when players or Hakstol talk about playing a "defense first" system, they should not interpret that to mean Seattle isn't looking for scoring chances. The Kraken fired 14 shots on goal during the first period, plus one goal post off the stick of McCann. The idea is to keep dangerous shooters to the outside lanes and either block those outside shots or allow Grubauer (or Chris Driedger) to get a clean sightline to the arriving puck.

Not Totally 'Special' for Kraken

The Rangers' power play is 10th in the NHL with 24.4 percent of their man-advantages producing goals. Staying out of the penalty box was a must on the Kraken to-do list stepping onto the ice here at Madison Square Garden.
Case in point: When Kraken center Alex Wennberg was whistled off for tripping mid-first period, the New York power play connected for a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the penalty. Zibanejad sent a cross-ice "seam" pass to playmaker extraordinaire Artemi Panarin, who sent a second "seam" right back to Zibanejad. The Swedish center fired a rocket past Grubauer.
In contrast, when New York's Ryan Reaves went to the box for high sticking early in the third period, the Kraken penalty killers held the Rangers to one shot on goal. They worked their four-player formation like assistant coach Jay Leach draws it up.