The Rangers didn’t waste any time setting the tone against Seattle.
New York jumped on the Kraken early and built a 4-0 cushion before hanging on late for a 4-3 win, riding a blistering first period and enough timely stops from Joonas Korpisalo to survive a furious Seattle push.
The night also brought a few lineup wrinkles. Alberts Smits was scratched at the last second with an injury, which opened the door for Matthew Robertson to make his season debut. Korpisalo made his season debut in goal, while Seattle had Joey Daccord in net and was without former Ranger Ryan Lindgren, who was out with an upper-body injury.
The opening minutes belonged to the Rangers. Just 1:35 into the game, New York cashed in on a slick sequence from its top line. Alexis Lafrenière fired the initial shot, Mika Zibanejad collected the rebound and fed Gabe Perreault, who finished to put the Rangers ahead 1-0.
The pressure kept coming. A holding penalty on Berkly Catton sent New York to the power play, and while the first unit couldn’t connect, the Rangers still found more offense before the period was over. Tye Kartye had a goal wiped out after it was kicked in, but he later scored against his former team anyway when Adam Fox’s point shot was tipped in with about 40 seconds left in the period to make it 2-0.
Then the fourth line got in on the act. Matt Rempe forced a turnover in the Seattle zone, Noah Laba got the puck to the net, and Jaroslav Chmelar jumped on the rebound for New York’s third goal. That was enough to chase Daccord, with Philipp Grubauer taking over in goal.
Korpisalo, meanwhile, was perfect in the first period, stopping all 10 shots he saw. Seattle’s lone power play of the frame came after Will Cuylle was called for holding Chandler Stephenson, but the Rangers’ penalty kill held firm and kept the shutout intact.
The second period slowed down considerably, but the Rangers still added to the lead. After Brandon Montour was whistled for hooking Perreault, New York went back on the power play. The man advantage didn’t score directly, but right after it expired, Zibanejad set up Pavel Dorofeyev on the rush, with Lafrenière also picking up an assist, to push the lead to 4-0.
Seattle had a few looks in the period, including an odd-man rush involving J.T. Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand, but Miller missed the net. Korpisalo stayed composed through a long late shift in the Rangers’ end, and New York carried a four-goal lead into the third.
That cushion didn’t last long once the final period began.
Less than two minutes in, former Ranger Kaapo Kakko wrapped the puck around Korpisalo to get Seattle on the board and spoil the shutout bid. The Kraken kept pressing, and after Vladislav Gavrikov was called for tripping, Jordan Eberle buried a feed from Matty Beniers 37 seconds into the power play to cut the lead to 4-2.
Seattle kept coming. The Kraken controlled much of the third period and had outshot the Rangers 14-1 by the time Vince Dunn hammered a one-timer off the post and in at 4:58 to make it a one-goal game. Zibanejad helped steady things with a big block as the Rangers tried to absorb the pressure.
New York got a chance to put it away with 2:26 left when it went back to the power play. The Rangers used a different look, with both Fox and Gavrikov out there, and while they didn’t score, they did chew up valuable time. Seattle pulled its goalie with about 22 seconds remaining and generated one last burst, but the Rangers closed it out.
New York finished off the 4-3 win and will be back in action Monday at 8 p.m. ET against the Edmonton Oilers.
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