Cuylle scores in OT, Rangers edge Kraken for 3rd straight win

SEATTLE — Will Cuylle scored at 2:42 of overtime, and the New York Rangers closed out their four-game road trip with a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.

Off a 2-on-1 rush, J.T. Miller passed to Cuylle, who fired a wrist shot over a sprawling Joey Daccord for the game-winning goal.

“In the third, I felt like we were pressing, lots of good chances,” Cuylle said. “We’ve always said, just try to stick with it, and it all starts in the D-zone. I thought we were really good defensively, and you’re not going to lose games if the other team can’t score that much.”

Vladislav Gavrikov scored his first goal for the Rangers (6-5-2) after signing a seven-year, $49 million contract on July 1. Noah Laba also scored, and Igor Shesterkin had 11 saves.

“I thought tonight might have been our best [game], just as far as controlling territory, defending hard, limiting shot quantity and quality,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought it was a great effort by everybody. All four lines were involved, and I thought we had good flow.”

The Rangersm who have won three in a row, completed their four-game road trip 3-1-0 and are 6-1-1 in road games.

“We did great as a team,” Laba said. “Every line contributed, playing in their zone, pucks north, controlling the play in the O-zone, and you could kind of see it with the shots [on goal totals]. And we did a great job in the D-zone, too."

Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken (5-2-4), who have lost their last two (0-0-2). Daccord had 24 saves.

“We don’t want to spend this much time in our zone,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “We’re battling when we do, but the first period was a classic example of what I’ve been talking about all year long. [We were] misfiring our passes… we’ve got to find a way out of our zone better.”

“Pretty low-event game. Not a ton out there,” Daccord said. “I thought we managed the way the game was going pretty well, and overtime is a coin flip with 3-on-3. So, you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some, and it just (stinks) losing in overtime, honestly.”

Gavrikov made it 1-0 at 10:16 of the first period with a wrist shot through traffic from the left point that tipped off the shaft of Daccord’s stick and floated over his shoulder.

Stephenson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 12:49, taking a feed from Vince Dunn in the left circle and sending a wrist shot over Shesterkin’s glove.

“We want them to shoot more,” Lambert said. “We thought we could do a better job of that, but there was a lot of battle to our game. I give our guys credit for that, for sure. It wasn’t an easy game by either team.”

Laba regained a 2-1 lead for New York at 13:50, crashing the net off a rush and swatting a Cuylle rebound past Daccord’s left skate.

“It’s about experience, and the more I get, the more I feel like I’m just building my game and building my confidence,” Laba said.

It was the second career goal for the 22-year-old rookie, playing his 13th NHL game.

“[Laba’s] game just gets better right in front of us every game that he plays,” Sullivan said. “He’s just playing with so much confidence, and he’s hungry. He’s strong on pucks, I think his speed is evident… But the most impressive thing for me is just his composure.”

Montour tied it 2-2 at 6:59 of the second period, one-timing Jaden Schwartz's low-to-high feed over Shesterkin’s glove from the top of the right circle. Montour also had two goals and an assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

NOTES: Seattle forward Kaapo Kakko made his season debut. The winger missed 10 games with a broken hand sustained in preseason. Selected by the Rangers with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kakko played five-plus seasons for New York before being traded to Seattle on Dec. 18, 2024. ... Adam Fox recorded his 379th career point and passed Brad Park for sole possession of fourth most by a Rangers defenseman.