NHL: Artemi Panarin back in New York as Kings meet Rangers

Artemi Panarin will get his first chance to face his former team when the New York Rangers host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.

In a cost-cutting move, Panarin was traded to Los Angeles from New York on February 4 in exchange for forward prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Kings immediately signed the 34-year-old forward to a two-year, $22 million contract extension through the 2027-28 season.

Panarin spent six and a half seasons with the Rangers, leading the team in points in each of his first six full seasons. He ranks ninth in points (607) and eighth in assists (402) on the franchise's all-time list and holds the record for the highest points-per-game average (1.26).

So far with the Kings, Panarin has 12 points in 10 games, including three goals and nine assists. He recorded his first three-point game for Los Angeles on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Despite his performance, the Kings fell 6-4, preventing them from winning consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak from January 20-27.

Still, Los Angeles entered Sunday just one point shy of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

“Every guy in that room knows where we want to go, and we've got to push and give ourselves a win on Monday,” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said.

Kings forward Anze Kopitar scored two goals against New Jersey to become the team’s all-time leading point scorer with 1,308 points, surpassing Marcel Dionne’s record that stood for 45 years. It was Kopitar’s first multi-goal game of the season.

“We're right in the thick of things right now, so there's not a whole lot of time to think about that,” Kopitar said of the milestone.

The Kings beat the Rangers 4-3 in Los Angeles on January 20 and will aim to finish 4-0 against New York teams this season.

The Rangers, meanwhile, won their season-high fourth consecutive game on Saturday. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 46 saves, while former Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov contributed a goal and two assists in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

“We were playing a north-south game. We were playing a straight-ahead game,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think when we play fast, we are fast.”

Despite being shut out in three of their first five games this season, the Rangers have scored at least four goals in every game during their winning streak. They still sit 25th in the league with 2.82 goals per game.

“For a lot of the first half of the year, we couldn’t see the puck go in the net,” New York captain J.T. Miller said. “Right now, we're executing a lot of plays. We've got some guys stepping up and playing really well. Just high execution, and finally getting those pucks to go in the net that we were missing earlier in the season.”

The Rangers will play 11 of their next 13 games at home before finishing the season with a three-game road trip. While it may be too late to fully get back into the playoff race, the team aims to set a positive tone for next season.

“There's a good feeling around here right now,” Miller said. “It's been a hard year, but it feels good to win some games and try to string some together.”

—Field Level Media/Reuters