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SEATTLE — If one thing was inevitable Saturday night, it was Tye Kartye scoring against his former team in his return to the city he played the first 180 games of his NHL career for.
Sports can be predictable in that way, but the circumstances were just too perfect for the Rangers’ undrafted forward who happened to be on a hot streak coming into a game against the organization that gave up on him just over eight months ago.
So naturally the player the Kraken waived just last season was at the heart of the 4-3 win for the Rangers, who picked him up, at Climate Pledge Arena.
An always relentless presence on the forecheck, Kartye was overwhelming. He was speedy, intentional with the puck and active in all three zones from start to finish. Mike Sullivan had no choice but to move him on to the second power play unit, and Kartye rewarded the faith of the Rangers head coach.
The first power-play goal he scored was waved off for his distinct kicking motion off the faceoff win.
Just 40 seconds later, however, Kartye converted on the Rangers’ man advantage for real with a perfect upwards tip of an Adam Fox shot from the point to give his team a 2-0 lead less than halfway through the first period.
It counted as Kartye’s first career power-play goal four years into his NHL career.
The Kraken thanked Kartye with a tribute video shortly after, but it is the Rangers who should be thanking the Kraken.
Since pulling on a red, white and blue sweater, after scoring his sixth goal of the season Saturday, Kartye has collected 11 goals and 16 assists in 42 games.
The Ontario native has been a perfect fit in Sullivan’s system, playing the kind of high-energy puck pursuit game the second-year Rangers coach is looking for out of his team. Captain J.T. Miller enjoys playing with Kartye, and it’s landed No. 24 a second-line assignment for 15 straight games now after he started the season on the fourth unit.
With three goals in the last five games, Kartye has been one of the most consistent Rangers this season.
The Rangers had more than a step and a half on the Kraken for much of the day on their way to their second road win of the season.
It allowed them to build their largest first-period lead of the season Saturday afternoon.
By way of a consistently effective forecheck and some poor play from the Kraken, the visitors carried a 3-0 advantage into the first intermission. Seattle struggled to challenge Rangers goalie Joonas Korpisalo in his first game since contracting a foot infection at the start of the season.
Gabe Perreault opened the scoring after hustling to the other end of the ice to maintain his line’s possession of the puck. Skating back into the slot, the 21-year-old wing was completely unmarked as he whipped his sixth goal of the season past Kraken goalie Joey Daccord.
After Kartye’s power-play goal seven and a half minutes later, the fourth line contributed to the scoresheet for the first time since Oct. 22.
Jaroslav Chmelar cleaned up a rebound off a Noah Laba shot for his first goal of the season.
The Kraken absolutely took over in the third period, storming back with three unanswered goals from Kaapo Kakko, Jordan Eberle and Vince Dunn to cut the Rangers lead to one with less than five minutes left in regulation.
Whether the jet lag caught up with the Rangers or their energy waned, the home team smothered them with a 14-1 edge in shots on goal through the final 20 minutes.
