A long and emotional week for the Rangers concluded with a loss in a very winnable game.
Blowing a two-goal lead at a time when the team is in need of a pick-me-up is perhaps the most discouraging circumstance that could’ve befallen the Blueshirts at this moment in time, but a 7-5 defeat at the hands of the Kraken Sunday afternoon unfolded on the Madison Square Garden ice all the same.
Facing a Seattle team competing in the final contest of a four-game road trip out east, the Rangers took charge of the contest early before veering off and allowing a clearly drained opponent to waltz right back into the game rather effortlessly.
The Rangers may have made their push in the final 20 minutes of the game, scoring twice in the span of 2:31 on goals from K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere — only after the Kraken had built a 6-3 advantage.
It had the Garden buzzing with hope again, but an empty-net goal from Yanni Gourde halted the rally.
The Rangers have hit a soft spot in their schedule that they need to take advantage of in order to close the gap with the top of the Metropolitan Division and get this season officially back on track.
With the Kraken sitting in the bottom tier of the Pacific Division, this was supposed to be the start.
The last team in the NHL, the Blackhawks, venture to the Garden on Monday. The Blueshirts will now have to start there.
Seattle evened the score, 1-1, on a power-play goal from Oliver Bjorkstand just 1:46 into the second period after Ryan Lindgren was sent off for elbowing just 14 seconds in.
A strong Rangers push, however, produced a two-goal lead in the span of less than two minutes.
Filip Chytil generated an end-to-end play, which started with the Czech center finessing the puck through traffic to get it out of the Rangers zone. Trailing the rush, Chytil was set up by a centering feed from Kaapo Kakko to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
A power play goal from Vincent Trocheck then gave the Blueshirts a two-goal cushion.
Whether it was the Rangers sitting back or the Kraken getting riled up by the game, the momentum shift was stark and swift. Seattle started swarming the Rangers zone before managing to score twice in just 1:28 to tie it up with less than five minutes left in the middle frame.
Lindgren lost Brandon Tanev crashing the net on the first, while Eeli Tolvanen’s one-timer went top corner on Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick for the second.
A lost defensive-zone draw for the Rangers then led to the Kraken taking their first lead of the day. Bjorkstand scored his second goal of the game on a net-front deflection off a Brandon Montour shot.
It was deflating for the Rangers and for Madison Square Garden, which seemingly had all the air sucked out of it.
The Rangers did hold the offensive zone extremely well in the first period, doubling the Kraken in shots on goal, 12-6. They peppered Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer from all angles and took care of the puck, which made for cleaner breakouts and smooth transitions up the ice.
Just over a week since Reilly Smith was a healthy scratch for the first time since joining the Rangers this past offseason, the veteran wing has been a standout through his first three games back.
Scoring his second goal in as many games, Smith cleaned up a rebound off a Miller shot to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at the 3:38 mark of the first period.