NEW YORK, N.Y. — The New York Rangers fell to the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Monday as Artemi Panarin returned to Madison Square Garden for the second time since being traded to the Kings last February.
Before the game, Madison Square Garden paid tribute to Rangers great Ron Duguay, who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer.
As the game got underway, the Rangers rushed up the ice looking to score early, but the Kings quickly took the puck the other way and scored the first goal of the game. Taylor Ward beat James Reimer to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at 1:15.
Los Angeles didn’t stop there. With 15:08 remaining in the first period, Brandt Clarke scored while the Rangers were facing a delayed penalty, giving the Kings a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers have struggled on the road this season, going 1-3-1 to start the campaign. They continued to display the same type of poor play that has plagued them in road games throughout the early season.
At 13:01, the Blueshirts started to show some life as Tye Kartye fired a shot on net that deflected off a streaking J.T. Miller’s skate in front of the goal, cutting the Kings’ lead in half.
The momentum didn’t last long. At 17:32, Drew Doughty fired a wrist shot from just over the blue line that beat James Reimer to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. Artemi Panarin assisted on the goal.
A terrible first period resulted in a 3-1 Kings lead after 20 minutes of play.
The second period needed to be different if the Rangers wanted a chance to win the game.
The Rangers made a goaltending change to start the second period, as Dylan Garand replaced James Reimer.
At 1:16 of the period, Braden Schneider was called for tripping, putting Los Angeles on the power play. Artemi Panarin quickly scored for the Kings to make it 4-1. Panarin’s first goal against his former team since being traded.
With 13:06 remaining in the second period, Mikey Anderson scored to make it 5-1.
Almost immediately afterward, the Kings appeared to score again to make it 6-1 as the game unraveled for New York. However, the goal was overturned due to goaltender interference after Brandt Clarke pushed his stick into Dylan Garand’s glove, preventing the Rangers goaltender from covering the puck.
At 8:10, Drew Doughty and J.T. Miller were assessed coincidental minor penalties for holding, and play resumed with both teams skating four-on-four.
The Rangers went on their first power play at 12:40 after Brian Dumoulin was sent to the penalty box for slashing. New York looked to get something going despite trailing 5-1.
Adam Fox scored his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Late in the second period, Noah Laba was sent to the penalty box, putting Los Angeles back on the power play.
After two periods, the Kings held a 5-2 lead.
The penalty carried over into the third period.
Although the Rangers killed off the penalty, they quickly took another one as Alberts Smits was sent to the penalty box for interference.
Tye Kartye scored one more for NYR and Joel Edmundson an empty net goal for LAK.
The Rangers’ next game will not come until Sunday, when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden. With an abnormally long stretch between games, it remains to be seen whether a solution in the crease will emerge for New York, as rookie Dylan Garand continues to play every game.
