SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:
LAST GAME
Seattle 1 at New Jersey 3
Goals: Larsson
Goalie: Grubauer (25/27)
PP: 0/3 PK: 2/4 Shots: Seattle 35 – New Jersey 27
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 135)
Chris Driedger (ACL; IR) – 51 games – month-to-month
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 51 games – no timeline for return
Burakovsky (lower body) – 1 game – week-to-week
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
Feb. 5, 2023: Acquired D Jaycob Megna from San Jose in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round pick of Seattle’s choosing
Feb. 9, 2023: Recalled F John Hayden from Coachella Valley (AHL); Activated D Justin Schultz off of Injured Reserve; Placed F
Andre Burakovsky on IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Feb. 12: Seattle at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. PT
Tuesday, Feb. 14: Seattle at Winnipeg, 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, Feb. 16: Philadelphia at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, Feb. 18: Detroit at Seattle, 7:30 p.m. PT
Friday, Feb. 20: San Jose at Seattle, 1 p.m. PT
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight’s game against the Rangers is the third of five consecutive games the Kraken will play on the road. The team’s five-game road trip will conclude on Feb. 14 in Winnipeg.
• Yesterday’s game against the Devils and tonight’s game against the Rangers is the fifth of eight back-to-back sets the team will play this season and the third of which where both games are played on the road. Seattle has a 3-1-0 record in the second game of back-to-back sets this season.
• Tonight’s matchup is the final of two games Seattle will play against the Rangers this season, having previously defeated them 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 17 in Seattle. A win tonight would give the Kraken their third sweep of the season after having previously swept the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this year.
• Tonight is also the eighth of 13 games that the Kraken will play against Original Six teams this season. They will face off against the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs twice each and the Chicago Blackhawks three times.
• Since the start of the New Year, the Kraken are tied for the league lead in wins (11) and are tied for second in points (23).
• With 48 games played, the Kraken have already surpassed their win (27) and point (60) totals from last season.
• Despite only playing in 51 games this season, the Kraken are the first team to have scored at least eight goals in a game four different times since the Pittsburgh Penguins also has four eight-goal games in 2011-12.
TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE
• Jordan Eberle has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last seven games against the Rangers and recorded at least a point in each of the Kraken’s three meetings with New York since the start of last season.
• Yanni Gourde has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last four games against New York.
• Philipp Grubauer earned his first NHL win on Dec. 8, 2013 against the Rangers.
• Jared McCann has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last five games against the Rangers.
• Justin Schultz has scored four goals in his last four games against New York. He scored twice in the teams’ first meeting of the season, including scoring the overtime winner.
• Jaden Schwartz has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last eight games dating back to Oct. 10, 2017 and enters tonight’s matchup riding a five-game point streak against the Rangers.
ROAD WARRIORS
• The Kraken have posted an 16-7-2 record while playing on the road this season. The team’s 16 road wins have already
surpassed their total from last season (11) despite only playing in 25 road games so far this year.
• As of 8 p.m. PT on Feb. 9, the Kraken ranked in the top five in the NHL this season in road wins (16, tied fourth), points (34, tied
fifth) and regulation wins (15, tied third).
• The team’s 100 goals (tied) and 4.00 goals-per-game-played on the road both led the NHL as of 8 p.m. PT on Feb. 9.
• Matty Beniers is the Kraken’s leading scorer when playing on the road this season, totaling 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 25 games played. He has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his last 11 road games. Beniers’ 13 goals, 12 assists (tied), 25 points and 1.00 points per game on the road this year were the most among rookies as of 8 p.m. PT on Feb. 9.
• Vince Dunn has totaled 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his last nine games played on the road.
• Alex Wennberg has four assists in his last four road games.
NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:
LAST GAME
New York Rangers 4, Vancouver Canucks 3 – February 8, 2023 – Madison Square Garden
NYR Goals: C. Kreider (21), F. Chytil (19), A. Lafreniere (8), M. Zibanejad (25)
VAN Goals: C. Garland (10), V. Podkolzin (1), E. Pettersson (22)
NYR Goalie: I. Shesterkin (W – 22/25)
VAN Goalie: S. Martin (L – 17/21)
NYR Shots: 21
VAN Shots: 25
NYR PP: 0/3
NYR PK: 1/1
RECAP/NOTES: The Rangers outlasted the Canucks on Wednesday night, backed by three assists by K’Andre Miller, a career-high, and two by Jacob Trouba. New York scored two in the first and then a goal in the second and third while Igor Shesterkin collected his 22nd win of the season.
RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers finish off a three-game homestand and begin a back-to-back set, against the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET – TV: MSGSN – Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). This is the ninth back-to-back set the Rangers will play in with a game on Saturday at Carolina. In the first game of back-to-backs this season, New York is 4-2-2.
- On Thursday afternoon, the Blueshirts executed a trade that brought in forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Sammy Blais, and Hunter Skinner.
- The Rangers will play five of their next six games against Western Conference opponents. Against the West, New York is 16-5-3 and is 7-2-2 against Pacific Division teams.
- The Blueshirts have won three games in a row and have earned a point in a five-straight games (4-0-1). The Rangers have now earned points in six of their last seven games (5-1-1) and 13 of their last 15 games (10-2-3). Dating back to November 30, Rangers have points in 23 of their last 28 contests (19-5-4).
- At home, New York has won four in a row and are 11-3-0 in their last 14 games at MSG.
- The Blueshirts have scored four or more goals in three-straight games are 19-0-0 when scoring four or more goals, one of three teams (VGK, ARI) with a perfect record when reaching the benchmark.
- The Rangers defensemen group has collected 127 points, the fourth most in the NHL and 101 assists, the second most. 28.3 percent of all Rangers points this season have been contributed to a defenseman.
- New York’s 63 third period goals rank tied for sixth in the NHL and their plus-15 third period goal differential ranks tied for fourth. The Rangers’ plus-54 shot differential in the third period is fourth in the league.
UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES ET)
DATE/TIME OPPONENT/LOCATION TV RADIO
Feb. 11/7:00 PM Carolina/PNC Arena MSG 2 ESPN 1050 AM
Feb. 15/10:00 PM Vancouver/Rogers Arena MSGSN ESPN 1050 AM
Feb. 17/9:00 PM Edmonton/Rogers Place MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Feb. 18/10:00 PM Calgary/Scotiabank Saddledome MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Feb. 20/7:00 PM Winnipeg/MSG MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
LAST FIVE GAMES
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Feb. 8 Vancouver W, 4-3
Feb. 6 Calgary OTW, 5-4
Jan. 27 Vegas W, 4-1
Jan. 25 at Toronto OTL. 3-2
Jan. 23 Florida W, 6-2
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
February 9 – Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola acquired from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Sammy Blais, and Hunter Skinner.
February 9 – Will Cuylle re-assigned to Hartford
February 5 – Sammy Blais recalled from conditioning stint and Will Cuylle recalled Hartford.
ALL-TIME RECORD 2-0-1 (5 PTS)
2022-23 0-0-1
2021-22 2-0-0
NYR HOME 1-0-0 (2 PTS)
NYR AWAY 1-0-1 (3 PTS)
LAST FIVE MEETINGS 2-0-1
LEADING SCORER(S) – CURRENT RANGERS IN CAREER G: Zibanejad (2) – A: Tarasenko (4) – Pts: Zibanejad (5)
LEADING SCORER(S) – ALL-TIME IN GAMES W/NYR G: Zibanejad (2) – A: Zibanejad (3) – Pts: Zibanejad (5)
2022-23 SEASON SERIES
November 17 at Climate Pledge Arena OTL, 3-2
February 10 at MSG 7:00 PM ET
TRADE SECRETS
On Thursday afternoon, the Rangers made a splash with the acquisitions of Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola. Tarasenko has played 11 seasons in the NHL (2012-13 – 2022-23), all with the Blues, where he’s collected 262 goals and 291 assists for 553 points in 644 games. Last season, Tarasenko notched career-highs in assists (48) and points (82). In his career, he has scored 30-plus goals on six different occasions, with his career-high total coming in 2015-16 (40). Mikkola has played parts of four seasons in the NHL, all with the Blues (2019-20 – 2022-23), where he’s collected four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 139 games. Last season, he posted career-highs in games played (54), goals (3), assists (10) and points (13). In addition, Mikkola has added two assists/points in 16 playoff games with the Blues over two seasons.
BLUESHIRTS SINCE DECEMBER 5
Since December 5, the Rangers have a 18-4-3 record for 39 points. In that span, their 18 wins and 37 points are the third most in the NHL.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- New York has averaged the fourth fewest PIM/GP with a 7.7 mark.
- The Blueshirts have the best road penalty kill in the NHL (85.7).
- The Rangers’ plus-30:23 special teams time differential is the sixth highest clip in the NHL.
