Tarasenko scores in Rangers debut, helps defeat Kraken

NEW YORK -- Vladimir Tarasenko scored in his New York Rangers debut, a 6-3 win against the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Tarasenko,
acquired in a trade
with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, gave New York a 1-0 lead on his second shift at 2:49 of the first period off a feed from Artemi Panarin.
"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, who was named the game's First Star, finished with two shots on goal in 13:58 of ice time while playing on the top line with Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.
"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."

Kaapo Kakko, Vincent Trocheck and Ryan Lindgren each had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider had two assists for the Rangers (30-14-8), who have won four straight and five of their past six games. Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves.
"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."
Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist, and Vince Dunn had two assists for the Kraken (29-18-5), who have lost the first three of a five-game road trip that continues Sunday at the Philadelphia Flyers. Martin Jones made 22 saves.
"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."
Kakko made it 2-0 with his first goal in 17 games at 5:01 of the first, and Trocheck extended the lead to 3-0 on a backhand at 14:29.
"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."

Jacob Trouba scored a power-play goal 1:03 into the second period for a 4-0 lead on a shot that deflected off Kraken defenseman Will Borgen.
Bjorkstrand cut it to 4-1 on a wrist shot from the high slot at 2:07.
Zibanejad gave New York a 5-1 lead when he one-timed a no-look feed from Kreider for a power-play goal at 3:19 of the third period.
"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."

Jared McCann cut it to 5-2 with a power-play goal on a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle at 5:59, and Brandon Tanev made it 5-3 just 22 seconds later when he scored on a backhand through the five-hole at 6:21.
Lindgren scored his first goal of the season, short-handed and into an empty net, at 17:51 for the 6-3 final.
NOTES: Only three other players have scored in the opening three minutes of their Rangers debut (Norm Lowe, 1:00 on Feb. 26, 1950; Lane Lambert, 2:28 on Dec. 10, 1986; Mike Allison, 2:44 on Oct. 9, 1980). ... It was the second time in four days the Kraken allowed a player acquired via trade to score his first goal with his new team. Bo Horvat scored for the New York Islanders in a 4-0 win on Feb. 7 after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 30. ... The Rangers are 12-3-0 at home since Dec. 5. ... New York forward Filip Chytil had his five-game goal streak end (seven goals). He had an assist and three shots on goal. ... Defenseman Niko Mikkola, also acquired in the trade Thursday, had one shot and four hits in 14:04 in his Rangers debut. ... New York was 2-for-3 on the power play; Seattle went 1-for-5.