Rangers Shutout the Kraken

The New York Rangers are on their Pacific Northwest/Alberta road trip, it will be four straight games on the road in one state and two different provinces in Canada, but it begins at Climate Pledge Arena in downtown Seattle, Washinton against the Kraken. The Team is currently in sixth place in the Pacific Division with nineteen points and this is the type of team the Rangers should be able to get a victory and continue to climb the standings in the Metropolitan Division. The Kraken is currently on a four game winning streak. Tonight’s game was the battle of the backups as Jonathan Quick was in net for the Rangers while PhilippGrubauer was in goal for the Kraken.

In the first period, it was a track fest. Skating all over the rink going north and south. The Rangers did have a chance to take the lead with KAppo Kakko on the ice, but the shot hit the post and out. The Kraker was able to get a power play, but nothing came from it as the Rangers penalty killing was very strong in the opening period.

In the second period, the Kraken tried to take advantage when Braden Schniueder tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but his stick broke and the Kraken jumped right away, but the Rangers were able to stop them from getting a scoring chance. Then Jaden Schwartz skated behind the net and tried to do a wraparound shot along the far side, but Jonathan Quick was right there to make the left pad save at 5:05. Quick made another big save when the puck was shot towards the net and hit the back boards, it took a strange bounce and he made a big right pad save along the near post at 14:20. But the Rangers finally got on the scoreboard when Artemi Panarin was hanging around the far boards. A hard pass to Alexis Lafreniere camped out in front of the near post and deflected it in at 17:30.

In the third period, the Rangers started a rush up the ice that began and ended with Zac Jones. He started the rush up the ice from his zone. He found Will Cuylle who passed the puck to Kappo Kakko, then Jones got the puck along the near side of the rink, snapped a quick shot under the left arm of Grubauer, and the Rangers took a two goal lead at 2:58. Two goals were all the Rangers needed along with some strong defending to get the win.

Another fantastic night of goaltending from Jonathan Quick as he stopped all twenty four shots by the Kraken for two consecutive shutouts. He earned his 397th career victory and needs only three more to get four hundred in his outstanding career as the most victorious American born goaltender in NHL history. It’s a strong start in this four game road trip and the hope is they can continue this strong run when they head north of the border and visit the Canucks in British Colombia.

Jonathan Quick: Posted his second consecutive shutout, his first back-to-back shutouts since Oct. 18-22, 2011. His 62 career shutouts are the 18th most in NHL history and he is
the fourth goaltender in the past 15 years to earn consecutive shutouts at age 38 or older, alongside Mike Smith (2; April 14-16, 2022), Martin Brodeur (2; Nov. 7-10, 2013) and Dwayne Roloson (2; Jan. 25 – Feb. 1, 2011). Quick is 4-0-0 this season and has allowed two or fewer goals in all of his wins.

Alexis Lafreniere: Extended his point streak to four games (2G-2A) with his seventh goal of the season. He has points in 12 of his 16 games this season.

Artemi Panarin: Pushed his point streak further, to seven games (4G-5A). Panarin recorded his 11th different assist streak of at least five games with the Rangers and passed Andy Bathgate (10) for the third most in franchise history. He has points in 15 of 16 games this year and his 24 points (10G-14A) rank tied for 10th in the NHL.

Zac Jones: Scored his first goal of the season.

Will Cuylle: Collected an assist, giving him points in three of his last five games (2G-2A). He has 12 points (5G-7A) in 16 games.