Well, that didn’t take long. On Friday night in Manhattan, Vladimir Tarasenko scored on his second shift with the Rangers, at 2:49 of the first period to give them a 1-0 lead over the Seattle Kraken.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this in my life,” Tarasenko said. “It’s my first time getting traded in the NHL … like, I spent 11 years in one city. The guys give us a very warm welcome. Everybody here was very nice to us. It was a crazy day, though.”
Tarasenko was icing in his first game with New York after being traded from the St Louis Blues on Thursday.
“I know [Panarin and Zibanejad] can make a play, so I just tried to be ready,” Tarasenko said. “I think sometimes we try too much. We enjoy playing with each other. It was a lot of emotions. Sometimes you try to overplay.”
Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves in a 6-3 win for the Rangers.
New York improved to 30-14-8.
“Just from meeting [Tarasenko] this morning, he’s really excited and it’s a great way to start his career with the Rangers, scoring on his second shift,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a great hockey player. He’s going to help our team.”
Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck followed with goals in the opening stanza for a 3-0 lea\d to the Rangers after 20 minutes.
Jacob Trouba scored in the second period to extend the lead to 4-0.
Seattle got one back in the middle frame on a strike from Oliver Bjorkstrand for a 4-1 count headed to the third period.
“We don’t want to lose games like that in a row; it’s something we’ve got to figure out,” Bjorkstrand said. “We’ve got to go to Philly and make sure we get a win. It’s a must-win, in my opinion. You just can’t lose too many games in a row. It’s not good for the team.”
Mika Zibanejad scored off the power play in the third period to push the New York advantage to 5-1.
“I think today we played better for longer periods of time in the game,” Zibanejad said. “When we play to that identity, I think we do a lot of good things. We put ourselves in a lot of good spots to win games.”
Seattle dropped to 29-18-5.
That goal became more important after the Kraken rallied with two goals in the third to cut the lead to 5-3.
Jared McCann (power play) and Brandon Tanev scored 22 seconds apart to trim the lad to 5-3.
The Rangers have won four straight.
“It’s tough to come back in a game when you’re down 3-0 in the first,” Seattle forward Jordan Eberle said. “We were slow. We gave them everything they had. They’re fast and they’re going to counter. I like the way we battled back, but ultimately it’s tough to come back from three down.”
The Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren hit for a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 2:09 left in the game for the 6-3 final.
Martin Jones made 22 saves in the Kraken loss.
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