nypost
In Edmonton, Pavel Dorofeyev found the back of the net for the second consecutive game on Saturday night, helping the Rangers build a commanding four-goal advantage over the Seattle Kraken after two periods. The Blueshirts had chased Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord just 13:53 into the opening frame, while Finnish netminder Joonas Korpisalo faced little resistance in his first two NHL periods of the season, with the Kraken generating only five high-danger chances.
However, the game shifted dramatically when former Ranger Kaapo Kakko scored less than two minutes into the third period. The Rangers then surrendered two more goals, clinging to a 4-3 victory that felt uncomfortably close. "Such a small thing that happens and kind of turns all the way around," Korpisalo said after the win, which was aided by a holding penalty to Seattle's Berkly Catton with 2:26 remaining. "Turns [out] to be a one-goal game. I think we played the last three, four minutes."
The Rangers have largely controlled play when leading, but their ability to handle momentum shifts remains a concern. With a rematch against Connor McDavid and the Oilers set for Monday—just nine days after their first meeting—the timing is critical. McDavid needed less than a minute to swing the Nov. 1 game at Madison Square Garden in Edmonton's favor, scoring on his first shift.
Whether it's McDavid speeding down the ice or stars like Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, Toronto's Auston Matthews, or Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, the Rangers must develop the resilience to respond when such momentum swings occur. Their early record against elite teams highlights the challenge: entering Sunday, the Rangers were 2-4 against the six top-10 opponents they've faced, with both wins coming against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have lost to the Oilers (ranked 3rd), Bruins (4th), Devils (7th), and Senators (9th).
Key Analysis
Head coach Mike Sullivan emphasized the importance of simplicity and pace. "I think our team's at its best when there's a simplicity to our game," Sullivan said Saturday. "Just playing straight ahead, playing with pace, playing with speed, playing behind teams, making defensemen turn and go back for pucks a lot. I think when we do that, we have the opportunity to play on top of teams, and then we can hang on to pucks and build an offensive zone game that's hard to play against." He also noted that while the team defended hard, they defended too much in the third period. "Sometimes your best defense is having the puck in the offensive zone and possessing," Sullivan added. "And then in the defensive zone, we've got to make sure that we're fronting those guys and we go out under control and we have some physicality to us so that we try to limit their ability to be part of the offense."
Originally reported by nypost.