One: Hit the wall
Well, this element sounds counterproductive. But here’s the explainer: the Kraken have shown improvement playing pucks off the side wall and retrieving them there via one-on-one battles.
It was strong wall play that led to the Kraken’s power play goal in New Jersey on Friday night, with Brandon Montour and Andre Burakovsky keeping the puck in the offensive zone along the right side. The puck finally went to Eeli Tolvanen in the right corner, and he flung a perfect pass to Shane Wright at the net front for the goal.
Strong wall play is often indicative of a team’s willingness to compete. That the Kraken have turned in better results of late, winning two of three on the trip and only losing by a goal in New Jersey, is partly due to their increased willingness to battle for pucks. And more importantly, win a lot of those battles. That Burakovsky was so involved in the power play goal – despite not appearing on the scoresheet – is a good sign from him, as one of the critiques ahead of his two-game benching was that he wasn’t getting involved enough in the play.
Two: Don’t hit the wall
OK, now that we’ve got you all confused about what to do with walls, let me explain further. Winning puck battles along the wall is good. But hitting the proverbial wall in the true meaning – which is to run out of gas – won’t work here. The Kraken did a great job of securing at least a .500 record on this trip by defeating Carolina and the New York Islanders. They looked a little fatigued as the game wore on in New Jersey because of the back-to-back situation of two games in 24 hours.
There’s no excuse for that now after they had an entire day off in Manhattan on Saturday to rest and regroup. And they’ll need to put their best skate forward on Sunday, as there’s a huge difference between splitting this trip and taking three of four. Don’t forget, the Kraken are trying to undo the damage of losing three in a row to lesser San Jose and Anaheim teams.
A winning road trip against some of the NHL’s tougher squads would certainly go a long way to repairing that, especially when they head home for some tough games as well. This improved play to start the trip can’t be a one-off. It must become the norm for this team to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff chase. Plenty of teams let up on the final leg of a cross-country trip – already packing their bags mentally and looking forward to some time back home. That can’t happen here. The Kraken must start this Madison Square Garden game the way they began the one against Carolina last Tuesday. And keep playing with energy all the way through.
Three: Shove their foe over the wall
OK, not literally, as in off a rooftop or anything, but metaphorically, the Rangers are about as vulnerable as the Kraken have ever seen them. And when they’ve seen them previously, it’s in the process of getting a beatdown administered. The Kraken have never won a game at Madison Square Garden or in regulation when facing the Rangers at home or away – their lone victory an overtime game two years ago at Climate Pledge Arena.
They’ve been outscored 25-12 in the series and 14-7 at MSG. So, some equal opportunity beatdowns home-and-away. You get the picture. But that could start changing.
The Rangers lost earlier in the week, 5-1 to the rival Devils. It was their sixth loss in seven games – the only win was a last-minute salvage job against lowly Montreal. That was followed soon after by the Rangers trading bruising defenseman Jacob Trouba – speaking of beatdowns on Kraken players – to Anaheim in quite the acrimonious transaction involving a formerly beloved team captain and his now ex-squad.
Yeah, the Rangers just extended goalie Igor Shesterkin in a record 8-year, $92 million deal, but that huge news was overshadowed somewhat Friday and Saturday by negative fallout from the Trouba deal.
Sure, the Rangers picked up a critical home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. But we’ll see whether that’s just a brief reprieve from what’s been quite the dismal stretch.
Since being dispatched in six games by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final last spring, the Rangers have now shed veterans Trouba and Barclay Goodrow. The moves do free up salary cap space – and at least one additional deal might be coming – but they haven’t gone over very well in the dressing room.
And while the added cap space positions the Rangers to perhaps make a significant acquisition for a deep playoff run this coming spring, they actually need to make the playoffs first. That’s not a gimme in a tough Metropolitan Division where they are now in fourth place with a six-point gap between them and Carolina.
They were also now seventh in the conference as of Saturday, just one point up on Tampa Bay and a ninth-place Philadelphia team holding two games in hand. Only eight Eastern teams will make the postseason. It’s time for the Kraken to pounce on a weakened foe.
