The Kraken laid an egg for two periods on Saturday and glided into the third period trailing a bunch of old friends (Eeli Tolvanen, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Tye Kartye) on the New York Rangers 4-0. It appeared that the Kraken already had a foot on the plane to Helsinki, where they’re now headed for two games against the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the NHL Global Series.

They did show some resiliency, though, pushing back in the third period and very nearly overcoming a 4-0 deficit.

While that may have made the defeat a touch more palatable for Kraken fans, captain Jordan Eberle said it didn’t do much for the psyche.

“No, it doesn’t. I mean, if anything, it makes you more frustrated,” Eberle said. “It’s the mentality of— we can’t have a good game and then have a bad game or a good period and then a bad. Like, we have to be more consistent, and if we want to continue to have success this season, that’s going to be a mandate.”

Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken loss to the Rangers.

Takeaway 1: What an ugly first period

Seattle looked flat in the first period, and unfortunately, it did not get bailed out by netminder Joey Daccord, who also looked off, just one game after a 25-save performance in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

In this one, he didn’t appear to be tracking the puck very well, and after Noah Laba’s shot rattled out of Daccord’s glove and onto the stick of Jaroslav Chmelar for an easy goal to make it 3-0 just 13:53 into the game, Lane Lambert gave him the hook, and in came Philipp Grubauer.

That goal came after Tye Kartye—who the Kraken lost to New York on a waiver claim in February and who has become a key contributor for the Rangers—scored the first power-play goal of his NHL career off a mid-air tip.

2-0 NYR. Tye Kartye gets the tip on Fox’s shot. Oliver Bjorkstrand had the second assist. PPG. https://t.co/h2SkfADwpx

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 7, 2026

Kartye also had a goal negated for kicking it through Daccord’s five-hole. That kick-in goal was the one that told me Daccord was really off his game. He tried to glove it while it skittered across the ice but whiffed and let it go through the wickets.

That goal didn’t count, but the way it went through Daccord indicated he wasn’t seeing it well on this night.

Kraken dodge a bullet. Kartye kicked it in off a face-off. No goal after video review. https://t.co/Q4zrIBRugp

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 7, 2026

“I didn’t like a couple of the goals,” coach Lane Lambert said. “So, it’s really hard for our hockey team to chase games, and we needed to do something to change the momentum.”

That’s not to say everything was on Joey in that first period. Seattle’s skaters also looked like they were stuck in quicksand for much of that opening frame… and heck, for much of the second period as well, when they only registered five shots against Joonas Korpisalo, who was mostly solid in his Rangers debut (Korpisalo was acquired in a trade from the Boston Bruins over the summer but spent the first month of the season on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and foot infection).

Give the Kraken some credit for coming back the way they did, but they really put themselves behind the eight ball in a big way in those first 20 minutes.

Takeaway 2: Nice pushback

It’s widely known that it’s easier to play on your toes in the NHL when you’re facing a big deficit. After all, a team trailing 4-0 entering the third period doesn’t have much to lose, and a team leading 4-0 often can’t help but sit back and try to protect.

“The Rangers played well. They were on top of us pretty good, and unfortunately for us, we had a plan in place that I’ll take responsibility for the players not following it,” Lambert said. “And then once we started to follow it in the third period, lo and behold, we had some chances, and we had some time in their zone. So, it’s a good… I guess for me, it’s a good learning experience for our players and for our group.”

The key to a big comeback is getting that one little spark to steal some momentum and then building it into a raging inferno. The spark in this one came 1:50 into the third period, when Kaapo Kakko collected Brandon Montour’s rebound at the side of the net, and instead of shoveling it right back into Korpisalo for an easy save, he had the wherewithal to wrap it around to the other side and stuff it inside the far post.

HEEYYYYYY KAAAAAAAPO KAKKO! 🚨 🕺 He finally gets the #SeaKraken on the board, grabbing a Montour rebound and wrapping it around. Still 4-1 NYR, though. 🫠 #SeaKraken https://t.co/FKwpHJG9ei

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 8, 2026

“I saw [Korpisalo was] kind of still sliding, and I was on the goal line already, so that would be hard to put it in [if I shot right away],” Kakko said. “And I mean, it happens fast, so I was just thinking he’s still going that way, and maybe I have time to go [around].”

Then Eberle scored a power-play goal at 6:38 off a great cross-crease pass by Matty Beniers, and you just knew they were going to get it within one.

Sure enough, as the energy inside Climate Pledge Arena built from next to nothing to ready for a frenzy, Berkly Catton slid a pass across the blue line to Vince Dunn, who one-timed it off the right post and in to cut things to 4-3.

Takeaway 3: A big mistake kills the comeback

Before I point this out, I’ll remind you that I wrote a feature on Berkly Catton about how he’s turning into a true star for the Kraken. I’ll also mention that he had two assists in this game, extending his point streak to eight games, the longest such streak for a player 20 or under in the NHL so far this season.

It really did feel like the comeback was going to happen in this one… until… Catton took an ill-timed penalty—his second holding penalty of the game (the first one resulted in Kartye’s power-play goal)—at 17:34 of the third. Catton put his free hand on the back of Mika Zibanejad, and as he pulled it away, he grabbed a little clump of jersey. As he did that, up went the official’s right arm.

“We can’t put ourselves in that position to make the referee have to decide whether or not it’s a penalty,” Lambert said. “Again, another learning experience for a young player.”

That meant that Seattle now had to kill a penalty—which it did—and would then have just 34 seconds left to find the equalizer—which it still almost did.

In fact, as Catton came out of the box, Beniers made an elite play to spin back in the defensive zone and find some room. That led to a rush in which Eberle very nearly picked the short side on Korpisalo but fired it wide.

“It was close. I don’t know where it ended, but I thought I had a look,” Eberle said. “I mean that’s a tough situation. It’s not a situation that you’re used to where you need a goal, you’ve got two minutes and 30 seconds or whatever it may be to kill… I thought we did a good job killing. Matty did a hell of a job bringing the puck back and then creating space and giving me an opportunity. But yeah, we had our chances.”

Ah, well. It was fun to see the Kraken push back the way they did and very nearly steal a standings point out of this one.

On to Helsinki! Imagine how that plane ride would have felt if they had completed the four-goal comeback…