Rangers nip Kraken thanks to Will Cuylle’s overtime goal to cap off successful road trip

SEATTLE — This was a character-building road trip for the Rangers.

Capping their longest stretch away from Madison Square Garden this season with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Kraken Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena, the Blueshirts headed home with their first three-game win streak in tow after going 3-1 on the western swing.

Will Cuylle scored 2:42 into the extra period to put a bow on a strong stretch of play.

“I thought tonight might’ve been our best, just as far as as controlling territory, defending hard, limiting shot quantity and quality — I thought it was a complete effort by everybody,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “All four lines were involved. I thought we had good flow. … I give the guys a lot of credit. This is not an easy trip to come out here. We lose the first game in Calgary, and to rebound the way we did just speaks volumes, I think, for the character of the guys.

“You can feel the energy around the team. I feel like we’ve earned our swagger back through our sweat equity.”

Aside from a lop-sided loss in Calgary, the Rangers blanked the Canucks in J.T. Miller’s return to Vancouver before pulling out an overtime victory in Edmonton. They then played a pretty complete game in Seattle while facing two of their former longtime teammates in Ryan Lindgren and Kaapo Kakko for the first time.

The Rangers have struggled mightily at home to start the season, making this trip all the more important.

Though wins are the most important, the team has seemingly built on every game as well.

“It’s big,” said Cuylle, who scored his first career overtime-winning goal. “I’d say that’s a pretty successful road trip. I think just carrying the momentum back into MSG for our next game, hopefully get in the win column there and keep trying to build our game up.”

The Rangers were aggressive from puck drop, doubling their opponents in shots through the opening 20 minutes and hustling on both sides of the puck.

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In fact, their 13 total shots against tied the fewest the Rangers have allowed since the league began tracking the stat in 1959-60.

While attacking the net and hunting for offense, the Rangers also clogged the lanes and suffocated the Kraken on defense.

It allowed the visitors to strike first near the halfway mark of the period, when Vladislav Gavrikov wristed home his first goal as a Ranger from the top of the zone.

A power-play goal from Chandler Stephenson evened the score at one-all, but the Rangers regained the lead before the period.

After poking the puck away from Matty Beniers and sending the Rangers on an odd-man rush, rookie Noah Laba cleaned up a rebound before barreling into the end boards. The goal counted as the second of his career and gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

When the Rangers got hemmed in their zone in the second period, Brandon Montour’s one-timer from just above the circle evened the score once again.

The Rangers nearly retook the lead later in the middle frame. With seconds left on the power play, the Blueshirts converged on the Kraken net to jam the puck in. Will Cuylle went first in the handshake line as the Rangers celebrated what was initially ruled a good goal by the official.

Shortly after, however, the refs overturned it. The reasoning was presumably because Cuylle pushed Kraken goalie Joey Daccord’s pad with his stick.

“I just felt like our guys were playing on their toes from the drop of the puck,” Sullivan said. “From the very first shift. When we play with those types of intentions, I think we can compete with anybody in this league.”