As we all know, Admiral Kurita failed to destroy Taffy 3 (and other "Taffy's) at the Battle off Samar. Mainly due to factors of bad battle coordination and a case of mistaken identity. (Kurita falsely believed that the escort Carriers and destroyers he was facing up against were elements of Halseys 3rd fleet). Kuritas central force is made up of: The battleships Yamato, Nagato, Kongō, and Haruna; heavy cruisers Chōkai, Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone; light cruisers Yahagi, and Noshiro; and a mix of 11 Kagerō-, Yūgumo- and Shimakaze-class destroyers.
South of the Taffy's are elements of Adm. Jesse Oldendorfs 7th support fleet. It consisted of: Six battleships: West Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania. All but Mississippi had been sunk or damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor and repaired, Tennessee, California, and West Virginia having been rebuilt. Four heavy cruisers (USS Louisville (flagship), Portland, Minneapolis, and HMAS Shropshire) four light cruisers (Denver, Columbia, Phoenix, and Boise), and 28 destroyers and 39 motor torpedo boats (Patrol/Torpedo (PT) boats). Earlier last night Oldendorf had successfully engaged and sank the Japanese Southern Force during the Battle of Surigao straight. Small downside is Oldendorf is low on ammo, particulary AP shells, he is resupplying however (arguably faster then IOTL once he hears what is possibly headed his way) and can still put up a fight if necessary.
Now heres the POD, unlike IOTL, Kurita has a positive ID of what he's facing up against, better mental stability (IOTL Kurita had gotten little sleep the previous nights and was no doubt somewhat unstable) and effectively coordinates a perfect tactical naval engagement. He absolutely slaughters Taffy 3,2,1 as he proceeds South toward Surigao Straight. To keep things realistic say along the way,Kurita loses Kumano, Suzuya, Yahagi and 4 of his destroyers. Kuritas shaken, but he's a little more confident then IOTL and is "letting the taste of victory" get to his head. He then encounters Oldendorfs fleet, what happens now?