The Kraken were 0-3 at Madison Square Garden in the franchise’s three-year history, until they turned the game upside down in the second period Sunday afternoon.
It was a 20-minute span in the Kraken’s eventual 7-5 win that saw Seattle score four times on 11 total shots.
Everything seemed to end up in the back of the Rangers net, but a multitude of turnovers and breakdowns exacerbated the situation and carried over into the third period.
“The goals were the chances, that was it,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had the pieces in place and when it came down to the point where it had to be defended, it got loose. Definitely not what you’re looking for, you’re in charge of a game 3-1 and like I said, the chances were the goals. We could’ve been tighter and better in those situations.”
The Kraken swarmed around the Rangers net on Brandon Tanev’s 3-2 score at the 14:06 mark of the middle frame.
Less than a minute and a half later, the middle of the Rangers zone was exposed on Eeli Tolvanen’s goal.
There wasn’t much to be done about Oliver Bjorkstand’s second goal of the game — a net-front deflection off a Brandon Montour shot — which gave the Kraken their first lead of the night at the end of the second.
But it bled into the final frame, with a long-range one-timer from Vince Dunn finding its way past Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick before the Kraken slipped behind the Rangers D on Shane Wright’s 6-3 score.
“The scoreboard and the goals,” Laviolette said of the switch. “If you go back and look at it, the chances — all of them — were the goals. So at those points in the game, we needed to defend better than what we did. We had the pieces in place, it was a little bit too loose and that looseness cost us.”
Igor Shesterkin’s wife went into labor with their second child on Sunday, so the star Rangers netminder did not dress against the Kraken in what has already been an eventful week after signing an NHL-record contract for a goaltender.
“He’s proven to be one of the top goaltenders,” Laviolette said. “To take such an important piece on our team and secure that piece for eight years is really reassuring. You think about sports in general, there’s really important positions and when it comes to hockey, goaltending is one of them. We’re fortunate to have one of the better ones.”
As a result, the Rangers recalled Dylan Garand from AHL Hartford to backup Quick.
Connor Mackey was also brought up to serve as an extra defenseman after Matthew Robertson was returned to the Wolf Pack on Saturday.
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