Will Cuylle's overtime goal lifts Rangers over Kraken
Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, forward Sam Carrick, defenseman Adam Fox and forward Adam Edstrom celebrate a goal during the first period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday in Seattle. Credit: AP/Stephen Brashear
SEATTLE — Coming off a stirring comeback win in overtime Thursday night in Edmonton, the Rangers, playing the final game of their four-game swing through the Northwest, seemed to carry momentum from that game into their matchup against old friends Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Lindgren and their new team, the Seattle Kraken, on Saturday night.
As has been the case all season long, scoring goals was a problem. But Will Cuylle, who’d been their best player all night, ended the game in a positive manner, whipping a shot past Joey Daccord with 2:18 left in overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 win and a 3-1 record on the road trip.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. This is not an easy trip to come out here, and we lose the first game in Calgary, and to rebound the way we did just speaks volumes, I think, for the character of the guys,'' coach Mike Sullivan said after the Rangers' third straight win. "And you can feel the energy around the team. I feel like we've earned our swagger back through our own sweat equity, and that was something that we talked to the group about, and making sure that we all just invest in playing the right way.''
The Rangers outshot Seattle 27-13 overall. The 13 shots allowed were the third-fewest against them in a game since the NHL began tracking shots on goal in 1959-60.
The Rangers outshot Seattle 10-5 in the opening 20 minutes and led 2-1 on goals by Vladislav Gavrikov and rookie Noah Laba that sandwiched one by Seattle’s Chandler Stephenson.
Gavrikov scored at 10:16 on a shot from the left point that went through a screen by Sam Carrick. It was his first goal after signing with the Rangers from the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent during the summer.
Stephenson scored on a power play, with Urho Vaakanainen in the box, to tie it at 12:49, but 61 seconds later, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead. Cuylle blasted a shot that Daccord saved, but Laba crashed the net and swept in the rebound.
The Rangers dominated possession and piled up scoring chances in the second period, but they were stunned when Brandon Montour’s slap shot from the right point beat Igor Shesterkin over his catching glove at 6:59 of the period to tie the score at 2-2.
The Rangers thought they had re-taken the lead when Cuylle appeared to nudge the puck across the goal line during a pileup of bodies in front of the net on a power play at 11:47. Referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas pointed emphatically to the puck having crossed the goal line, but before the faceoff, he announced to the crowd that the call of a goal on the ice had been reversed.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
More Rangers
