First Period:
- Gabe Perreault (6) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (11), Alexis Lafreniere (8)
- Tye Kartye (6) (Power Play) Assists: Adam Fox (20), Oliver Bjorkstrand (4)
- Jaroslav Chmelar (1) Assists: Noah Laba (5)
Second Period:
- Pavel Dorofeyev (6) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (12), Alexis Lafreniere (9)
Third Period:
- Kaapo Kakko (3) Assists: Brandon Montour (9), Berkly Catton (8)
- Jordan Eberle (5) (Power Play) Assists: Matty Beniers (5), Chandler Stephenson (11)
- Vince Dunn (3) Assists: Berkly Catton (9), Matthew Wood (3)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- This went from being a really good start to the road trip to a game that the Rangers were barely hanging on and may have been bailed out by Seattle taking a penalty with under 3 minutes to go. Without that penalty, and even with the 20 or so seconds they had after it ended, Seattle could very well have tied it. They had the momentum, the Rangers were struggling but in the end it turns into their third straight win.
- While the Rangers were up 4-0 after two and were the better team, there were a lot of shifts where Seattle was blocking clearing attempts and hemming the Rangers in. They overcome those shifts and had the lead going into the third but Seattle really raised their game and the Rangers didn’t match that and played almost the whole third period in their end.
- Luckily for the Rangers, Jonas Korpisalo was more than game in his Rangers debut. They opted to bring him up after just one game in Hartford and were confident enough in his ability that they waived James Reimer yesterday and then waived him again today to terminate his contract. But Korpisalo was very good and does bring a level of confidence in net that was a bit more see-saw with Dylan Garand after his first few games. I could see the Rangers going back to Garand on Monday to ease Korpisalo back in.
- It was probably the first time this season that the Gabe Perreault, Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere looked like it did at the end of last season. They were dangerous all night.
- Pavel Dorofeyev scored again, just after the PP expired, and started on the third line before being moved up to play with JT Miller and the red hot Tye Kartye.
- Alberts Smits was a late scratch and so Matthew Robertson stepped in for him. Injury or not, it’s probably not a bad thing for Smits to get a game or two where he can watch from the press box and then come back into the lineup. I think that for the most part Smits has been fine, but I still wonder if it doesn’t make more sense to give him some time in Hartford where he could play 20 minutes a night and in all situations.
- You hope that the Rangers can take the good from the first two periods and take the third as a lesson that they can’t take their foot off the gas. It’s an important two points and an important second road win for the Rangers.
- Next up is a visit to Edmonton on Monday.