Until Saturday, the Seattle Kraken were experiencing a hot streak that the New York Rangers haven’t approached achieving recently.
While the Kraken attempt to start another lengthy point streak and continue their climb in the Western Conference playoff race, the Rangers hope to recover from their worst showing of a middling season Monday night when the teams convene in New York.
Seattle is 8-1-2 in its last 11 games and earned a point in 10 straight contests until Saturday, when it allowed two goals within 3:13 in a 3-2 loss to the host Carolina Hurricanes. Matty Beniers and rookie Berkly Catton scored, but Seattle lost for the second time this season when leading going into the third period.
The Kraken mustered 12 shots on goal, the lowest in team history, and 17 of their 42 shot attempts missed the net. Seattle took its first regulation loss in nearly a month without leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle, who missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “They’re very good at squelching opportunities. I thought when we did have some chances, we failed on them, whether it be (that we) got them blocked or missed the net. There were enough for us.”
Before this run, Seattle went 1-9-1 from Nov. 23 to Dec. 18 to fall seven points out of a wild-card spot.
The Rangers are 7-9-4 in their past 20 games since winning three straight Nov. 24-28, but only three of those wins are in regulation. Since rallying for a 5-4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 20, New York is 2-5-2 in its past nine and on its fifth three-game losing streak under first-year coach Mike Sullivan.
The Rangers are playing their third game since placing goalie Igor Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox on injured reserve with lower-body injuries. In their past two games, they were outscored 15-4, losing to the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins.
Unlike Thursday when the Rangers got within one goal before allowing a short-handed goal on a four-minute power play in a 5-2 home loss to the Buffalo Sabres, they were dominated Saturday in a 10-2 road loss to the Boston Bruins.
After Mika Zibanejad scored 84 seconds into the first period, the Rangers allowed six straight goals. After J.T. Miller scored on a power play in the second, New York conceded the next four goals.
It was the 35th time in team history the Rangers allowed 10 goals, and the first since a 10-2 road loss to the Dallas Stars in 2009. It was also the 26th time the Rangers scored two goals or fewer and the 12th time they lost by at least three goals this season.
“That’s as bad as it gets,” Miller said. “I don’t know, man. The only thing that really matters now is this should sting — like, this should suck. This should make you want to puke, and then respond tomorrow and the next day. The only thing that matters is a response.”
“Everyone understands how important it is to win every game, take every point,” New York’s Artemi Panarin added. “You can’t play loose when you have that kind of situation in the standings.”
Jonathan Quick has started the past two games since Shesterkin was hurt with seven minutes left in the first period of Monday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth. In the past two games, Quick has allowed 10 goals on 40 shots.
–Field Level Media
