Those were two very large points for the Seattle Kraken, who overcame an early 2-0 deficit to escape from New York with a 4-2 win over the Rangers.
After Seattle saw its 10-game point streak snapped with a regulation loss Saturday in Carolina, getting back in the win column against a recently struggling team felt crucial. It wasn’t easy, but the Kraken figured it out.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken win over the Rangers.
Takeaway 1: Grubauer and Kraken recover after sketchy start
There are probably some in the Kraken fanbase who still feel spikes in their blood pressure when the Kraken give up an early goal with Philipp Grubauer in net. In a previous version of Grubi, it was something we saw all too often, and the current version of Grubauer—Renaissance Grubi, as we’re calling him—has now given up early goals in his last two starts. The big difference between Renaissance Grubi and the old version of Grubi, though, is that he doesn’t seem to get rattled by early goals anymore.
Just as Grubauer did against Minnesota on Thursday—when the Kraken also rallied back from a 2-0 deficit and forced overtime—he settled into his game as it went on and once again gave his team a chance to complete the comeback, which they did this time.
The Rangers’ first goal was an odd one. Soon after an ineffective early power play ended, Mika Zibanejad missed the net with a shot, then beat Vince Dunn to the loose puck and chipped it toward Grubauer from below the goal line. Grubauer was sliding back toward the net and looking the wrong direction, and he dragged the puck into the net behind him. Give credit to Zibanejad, because it’s a smart play to quickly chip that toward the goalie, but it’s also a strange goal to give up.
#SeaKraken give up a very early, very wonky goal.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026
Mika Zibanejad wins the race to the loose puck and banks it in off Philipp Grubauer, who was sliding back to his post looking the other direction.
1-0 NYR early. Kraken chasing early again. pic.twitter.com/6yWsgVyEjy
The next one was certainly not on Grubauer, but it came just 2:23 later, which made me wonder briefly if the netminder was off his game. Jared McCann tried to one-touch a breakout pass off the wall in the neutral zone backward toward Dunn, but inadvertently fired a missile six inches off the ice that was far too hot for Dunn to handle. That handed the Rangers a quick-developing 2-on-1, and Sam Carrick beat Grubauer from point-blank range.
Uh oh. 2-0. Vibes are bad. pic.twitter.com/COhXgsYKIJ
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026
Meanwhile, Jonathan Quick looked like a world-beater at the other end of the ice, stopping three Grade A Seattle chances in the first period, including a breakaway from Ryan Winterton.
Despite a few good chances, the vibes after that opening frame were not good, especially when the Kraken Hockey Network flashed the stat that the Rangers entered the game 12-0-0 on the season when leading after the first period.
BUT…
Grubauer and his teammates recovered and were visibly the better squad from the second period on, owning a 21-10 shots-on-goal advantage over the final 40 minutes. Grubauer made a few sharp saves the rest of the way, but his biggest stop of the night came with the Rangers pushing for the equalizer in the final 30 seconds, robbing J.T. Miller from about two feet away.
Takeaway 2: Kraken were a different team in the second
The Kraken needed to shake off that first period, and they certainly did, scoring two quick goals to tie the game by the 4:27 mark of the middle frame.
The second line—still without Chandler Stephenson due to the birth of his third child—got things started offensively when Freddy Gaudreau stole a puck in the neutral zone to create a 2-on-1. He made an exquisite backhand saucer pass to Eeli Tolvanen, who chipped the puck up and over Quick to get Seattle on the board.
EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨 #SeaKraken
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026
Freddy Gaudreau with the neutral-zone steal and a great saucer pass to Eeli Tolvanen, who makes a move and buries it upstairs.
2-1 NYR pic.twitter.com/7ozOD21xMR
Three minutes later, the top line of Kaapo Kakko, Matty Beniers, and Jordan Eberle—the captain was back in the lineup after a two-game hiatus—took the baton and went to work. Beniers retrieved a Dunn rebound at the left half wall and worked it low to Kakko. Kakko, making his triumphant return to Madison Square Garden, threaded a perfect pass through three Rangers defenders to Eberle at the top of the slot. Eberle delayed and waited for Quick to drop down, then sniped a perfect shot into the top-right corner to tie the game.
O, CAPTAIN! 🫡 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026
Kaapo Kakko with a great setup to Jordan Eberle, who dusts it off and snipes the top corner.#SeaKraken have started shooting high on Jonathan Quick, a wise adjustment.
2-2 pic.twitter.com/b0VbKQqWq5
That second line of Schwartz, Gaudreau, and Tolvanen was excellent in this game, by the way, and as BFOP Alison Lukan pointed out on the KHN post-game show, they controlled 98 percent of the shot quality when they were on the ice. That’s especially impressive considering they were deployed heavily against Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad, and Will Cuylle.
Takeaway 3: Third line finishes the comeback
While the top two lines were responsible for pulling Seattle back into the game in the second, it was the third line of Berkly Catton, Shane Wright, and Jared McCann that completed the comeback. Wright carried the puck into the zone and dropped it for McCann just inside the blue line. McCann shoveled it to Ryan Lindgren—also making his triumphant return to MSG—who had activated and was cutting down the slot.
Lindgren made a skilled play to find Berkly Catton open at the backdoor, and although Catton fanned on it, Wright crashed in and helped him poke the puck over the line. The goal was ultimately credited to Catton, though, giving the rookie his fourth goal in four games after being held goalless through his first 27 NHL games. It’s safe to say the floodgates are open for him.
This did get credited to Berkly Catton, so after going 27 games without a goal to start his NHL career, he now has four goals in his last four games. #SeaKraken https://t.co/sZTaYDxa9C
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 13, 2026
The win was a big one for Seattle. It put things back on track after a brief derailment Saturday and also nudged the Kraken back ahead of the San Jose Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division standings.
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The Kraken are getting healthier. Schwartz returned Saturday, Eberle returned Monday, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Stephenson rejoin the team for the back half of this road trip. Meanwhile, Brandon Montour skated with the team in a red non-contact jersey at morning skate Monday.
With depth players making such a massive impact over the last few weeks—guys like Ryan Winterton, Ben Meyers, Jacob Melanson, and Cale Fleury all chipping in—very difficult (and potentially unfair) decisions loom.
Go Kraken!!!
Very unfair.
That Wright does not get credited for that goal despite the fact that he was the guy who jammed it home? Totally.
Please. Stop with the “unfair” player decisions. Everything in the context of an 82 game season + potential playoffs people! It’s very shortsighted to consider too many player options at this stage as “bad”. Everyone will get to play, especially in this compressed season.
Has anyone here even played hockey at above competitive bantam level? It doesn’t take much to get hurt. I have a tibial titanium nail from my kneecap to my ankle from a run in with the boards. Just a run-of-the mill injury that takes you out for 6-8 weeks.
And thank you Darren! It is amazing how quickly you produce these articles. I don’t know how you do it. Great work.
When I say unfair, I mean a player who doesn’t deserve to come out based on performance is going to come out, and eventually somebody will have to even be sent down. With the way this team has been going, nobody deserves demotions. And yes, I played above bantams.
I coached up to Juvenile and besides coaching I was the physical therapist and team safety manager. I was magic with ice bags and heat pads. The more healthy bodies on hand, the better off the team is. When players are playing high minutes in too many back to back games, they get tired when you have a fresh team going every game night, you have a better chance at winning. Players hit harder and can play a bit dirtier or with an attitude and the players cannot perform at a higher level the older they get.
That’s awesome. There seem to be plenty of “older” players who perform quite well and play healthy at the NHL level, and a lot of the young players getting hurt. It would be interesting to see some numbers.
Thanks, Darren!
Maybe tough decision is a better phrase than unfair? At any rate it’ll be hard.
Thanks Darren. We’re lucky to have something to argue about so quickly after the game!
last night after the first goal against I did a side eye at Gru. Then after the second I thought, we’ll see. But after the next save my confidence in him returned. I might even have more confidence in Gru than Joey at this moment. Never thought I’d utter those words.
I wish they didn’t like those slow start, comeback games but I’ll take it! Go Kraken.
This here is just proof people have a weird hate boner for the guy. The first was a flukey goal and the second was a guy wide open in front of the net. It’s sad people still can’t parse the game over their blind hatred for this dude
It’s not so much blind hatred as it is learned coping from four years of utter ineptitude. It’s surprising, sure, but there is no hate, or at least there shouldn’t be any! The team is winning and in the mix for a playoff spot, and much of that is due to improved goaltending by Gru.
Ah so it’s inability to parse the game for 4 years. That’s at least a more fixable problem. But you miss the point… neither of the goals were a result of bad play by Gru. Much of the winning is actually the team playing worlds better around the net and limiting true high danger shots. It’s inflating both goalies save % just like it was artificially deflating them in prior seasons.
I agree, I wouldn’t pin either of those goals on Gru and HE has been outstanding. It’s been great… but Joey’s save percentage is down four points over last season and Grubauer’s is up 49. He’s No.1 of 67 goalies with 10 or more starts as opposed to 69th of 73… and you’re trying to tell me it’s because of the team in front of him?
Certainly the team in front of him is part of it, but why is it so beneficial to him and so marginal to Joey? I’m no goalie analyst, but it seems to me Gru has changed his game. On the team side there are less breakaways, less cross-seam passes and more clearing in front of the net. The last was particularly evident against Carolina where their “shoot from anywhere” game was largely nullified by rebounds being swept away. All of these things still happen, but it seems to me the biggest reason Gru is so much better is because when they do he’s not:
– Getting wildly out of position. Early in the season he did a little adventuring towards the dots and out near the edge of the trapezoid but he was mych better than before and for quite a while now he’s been tight to the blue paint.
-Doing the knee lift to get across. On his narrow butterfly he was bringing his push-off foot forward and then having to lift his knee to get across. This all takes a lot of time by NHL standards and, as I described it before, looks like me trying to get up off a low couch.
-Going face down and swimming. Almost without exception, whenever there was lateral play in front of Grubauer he could be counted on the throw out his pads and go facedown in the crease. I can’t remember the last time I saw him do this.
Again, I’m no goalie analyst, but these are exactly the critical observations Kevin Woodley has had on Stuart Skinner and anyone with a pair of eyes has seen Gru do these things regularly over the past four seasons. As Woodley also pointed out, this “style” is how goalies used to be taught. I think Gru has “reinvented” his game and I give him and Colin Zulianello a ton of credit for that. It’s been huge for this team. I think the idea that there’s “blind hatred” for Grubauer or that “Seattle fans have so much to learn” is mistaken. I think Gru has changed his game and as a Grubauer skeptic, I couldn’t be happier about it.
Go Kraken!!!
What blind hatred? He’s been one of the worst goalies in the league with a massive contract. He was performing SO poorly last year that he was WAIVED and sent to the minor leagues. The hate is 100% justified. I dont get it. if we have a hate boner you seem to have a regular boner for one of the worst performing goalies in the league over the last three years. So when those goals go in and we get squeamish and say “uh oh” its justified. Now, i have to give credit where credit is due because hes the MOST improved player on the team by far and im cheering for him. but come on. If theres any boners to go around i think they have to go to lane lambert. the stystem hes installed has helped grubauer’s game immensely.
It seems pretty likely that there will be a trade of some kind given some of the logjams and pending FAs. Oleksiak seems like the most likely person to be moved, which would allow Evans to move over to his natural side and roll Fleury, Montour, and Larsson on the right side.
Additionally, I love Schwartz but it seems unlikely that the team will bring back BOTH Schwartz and Ebs next season; does Botterill think about a hockey trade where he moves Schwartz (I doubt he would move Ebs)? Options are there to both ensure a return on players that likely won’t be brought back and make the team better going forward.
Schwartz is one of the last vets I’d move. No one in the pipe does what he does and we lose a lot more when he’s not in the lineup. I really don’t understand what game people are watching when they’re so quick to move him out. I could see them resigning both guys. We have plenty of cop and not enough high end wingers coming up.
I love Schwartz, but he’s had health issues for years and will be 34 by next season. I know we don’t have an immediate replacement, but i think we can start shifting some younger players up in the lineup (Catton? Winterton?) and bringing up some who have performed in the AHL, like OFM or Firkus. At some point, this team has to start getting younger. I’d be fine keeping the Captain, and I think they definitely should keep Tolvanen, but they shouldn’t keep all 3.
We will have more unsigned winger spots in the lineup than NHL ready wingers to fill them. And you ignored the fact no one in our pool does what he does. Getting younger doesn’t mean jettisoning the oldest guys just to feel good
What does Schwartz do that nobody else does? He misses 20-30 games a year and is entering the sharp decline phase of his career. I guess I just don’t see the upside.
Don’t underestimate ownership’s desire (desperation?) to make the playoffs this year even if our ceiling is getting smoked by a central division powerhouse. They can always send the depth pieces back to Coachella. There will surely be more injuries. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if Oleksiak is moved but I wouldn’t count on it. No way on Schwartz.
Agreed on the strong desire to make playoffs – given the drop in ticket prices and increasing dissatisfaction coming into the season they should be feeling a lot of pressure to show progress. However, I tend to see a repeat of season 2 where they hold at the deadline and do not move pieces, but aren’t aggressive buyers. They don’t want to appear to be giving up, and most fans would probably only be excited with sending away key prospects and players if they can land a star they can extend for a long term deal (similar to Rantanen last year). It doesn’t make sense to be buyers just to try to solidify a #3 or wildcard slot, even if we have an abundance of prospects and some moveable pieces on the team.
They certainly have a ton of cap space. I could see them making a move like Kyrou – top line forward with term – but I sure hope they don’t try and rent Panarin from their old friends in Fun City.
I don’t know that I see a trade coming if this team stays in a playoff spot. Unless it’s for an “upgrade” such as Kyrou, I don’t expect them to move a scoring forward – expiring or otherwise. I could see them moving Oleksiak, but even there, they already have four firsts and four seconds in the next two drafts. What’s the marginal value of another late first or second? Certainly they are nice “trade chips”, but personally I think actually making the playoffs is a valuable part of the development process.
As far as the roster goes, when Stephenson returns they send OFM back and when Montour returns I assume it’s Fleury. That leaves just one spot when Murray comes back. I could be mistaken on this next bit and I’d appreciate Curtis’s take, but as I understand it, even though Murray hasn’t been on LTIR, he’s eligible for an LTIR conditioning assignment to the AHL. That would open up his spot for three AHL games plus a two game extension. Depending on when he comes back, that could get them all the way to the Olympic break. After that it’s only five games until rosters expand after the trade deadline… and this all assumes no one gets injured – fingers crossed.
I do not share other folks’ eagerness to trade Oleksiak. Most of the breakdowns when he has been on the ice appeared to have been on Evans. If anything, Oleksiak has been solid this year. Getting a draft pick would be nice, but, like you said, how much would it actually be worth anyway? Enough to justify not having a veteran defenseman who is performing well for the playoffs? Maybe.
About the playoffs and the development process, the Kraken only have three young players–Matty Beniers, Kaapo Kakko, and Tye Kartye–who have seen NHL playoff action. Ryker Evans, Shane Wright, Berkley Catton, Ryan Winterton, and Jacob Melanson have never been in that environment beforee, and it will mean playing a lot more hockey than they are used to. It is going to be rough, and I imagine the leadership of old vets like Oleksiak, Eberle, and Schwartz who have each played several playoff series will be a huge benefit to those young guys. The best way to learn is to watch somebody who knows how to do things, after all.
Nobody is talking about trading Eeli Tolvanen, and I get it. Nobody wants him gone. He is actually getting assists by creating offensive plays now, which is something he never really did before, and his scoring touch and defensive game are undiminished. Still, if anyone is going to be traded, Tolvanen is, in my mind, the likeliest candidate. His next contract, which, given his pedigree, his resume, and his improved skill set, could end up being huge. If there is significant distance between what Botterill is offering and what Tolvanen’s agent is demanding in anticipation of there being eager GMs out there who would bid for Tolvanen’s services Botterill may be willing to do a trade to avoid losing him for nothing despite playoff positioning. Hopefully, Botterill will be able to loosen his purse strings a bit.
Watching all 82 of their games from start to finish is a challenge so I appreciate these articles. And the comments section is a gold mine 🙂 Unfair is an understatement. But the players understand it’s the NHL. Not sure if this has been mentioned but the added competition inside the locker room has to be driving each and every player to not only stay up, but keep their place. Lane Lambert sets that expectation and is perfectly exemplified by the play of the fourth line.
I am curious to see how they fair against some of the eastern teams on this road trip. Losses to MIN and CAR show that there’s work to be done before a cup victory. Does this team win the cup this year? I don’t think so. The west is pretty weak. The east is the measuring stick. They have to continue to improve the roster. Doing nothing at the trade deadline is the worst case scenario.
Getting wing scoring i would think is a priority. I see Schwartz and McCann as trade pieces in the top 6. Thats an easy decision in my opinion. They’ve been out and the teams done well without them. Moving them for a big time wing finisher, who could step into the first line with matty and kakko, and pairing them with Stephenson and tolvi for this playoff push and into next season i see as an improvement. Through in a 1st and 3/4 round pick too. There must be a taker for that deal.