Playing With Ease: Ryker Evans’ first NHL Point

Depth has always become a key part of the identity of the Seattle Kraken. And that was reinforced once again when defender Ryker Evans was called up from the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In seven games, the 22-year-old has four points (0-4-4) – all primary assists and has proven to be an asset both at even strength and on the power play.

And while points matter, it’s the work that goes into getting those points that can provide us even more insight on the player. And so, as part of our Playing with Ease series presented by GEICO, we wanted to take a look at the “how” behind Evans’ very first contribution on the scoresheet.

Let’s dig in.

December 12 – Florida at Seattle

Evans earned his first point in his fourth NHL game, and it was a beauty.

Evans and his partner Brian Dumoulin were playing in tandem with Seattle’s fourth line and here’s how the goal came to be. Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare wins a faceoff with help from Kailer Yamamoto who then promptly delivers the puck to Evans.

Now here’s where things get good.

Once he has the puck on his stick, Evans moves down the zone drawing the attention of Ryan Lomberg (FLA 94) and Kevin Stenlund (FLA 82).

Stenlund inadvertently gives Evans a little space as he drifts slightly into Lomberg’s path and now Evans has a step on his coverage. The only way Lomberg can try to impede Evans is with a reach of the stick.

Additionally, to get even more space – in fact, to completely separate from any defensive coverage – Evans goes behind the net. The net is one more obstacle and now Lomberg is chasing the play. And, because Evans has moved from the left to the right side of the ice, that challenges both Stenlund and Steven Lorentz (18) to provide coverage and that’s going to end up leaving a lot of space in front of the goal. An area that Devin Shore and Bellemare are close to.

Another element of what makes this play so smart is the challenge it presents to the goaltender. Evans doesn’t just move from left to right, he does it in an area of the ice that Sergei Bobrovsky can’t see. So now Evans has a split-second advantage on the goaltender’s ability to react to where he is and so, to be in position, Bob is going to have to move laterally across his crease and seal up the opposite net from where he was.

Now Florida’s defense is all pulled apart. And Evans takes advantage. As soon as he has come around the net, he sends the puck to Bellemare who is skating into the mid-slot. Evans has simultaneously put the puck on the stick of a teammate in one of the most dangerous areas of the ice and he’s once again surprised and challenged the goaltender to react to a scoring chance that isn’t easily predictable from their vantage point.

Bellemare smartly sees the opportunity on the pass and takes advantage of a matchup advantage (there are three Panthers players trying to cover the puck carrier, and Niko Mikkola is trying to cover both Yamamoto and Bellemare) to send a quick-fire shot towards the net.

Bobrovsky reads the play and reacts but he’s not able to get set and be where he’d likely want to be to defend the shot and the puck is in, the Kraken are up 2-0 and would go on to win 4-0 in their first shutout of the season.

There’s a lot to like in Evans’ developing game and his first major league points gives us lots of examples why.

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