Rangers vs. Kings: Lineups, storylines for Artemi Panarin’s return to MSG
Though he’d rather this day take place next season and not so soon after his trade from the New York Rangers, Artemi Panarin returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time with the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
Panarin said after the morning skate that he’ll “try not to cry,” and stressed that the Kings are in a playoff race so he needs to focus on that. Friendships with former teammates such as goaltender Igor Shesterkin can resume tomorrow; for tonight, he said, “I hope he has a bad night tonight. Sorry, New York Rangers fans.”
Arguably the greatest free-agent signing ever by the Rangers, back on July 1, 2019, Panarin was traded to the Kings on Feb. 4 after seven seasons of elite production unmatched in franchise history. The 34-year-old led the Rangers in scoring each of his first six seasons, and is ninth all-time in franchise history with 607 points (205 goals, 402 assists) in 482 regular-season games. His 1.26 points-per-game average is tops in franchise history.
His tenure on Broadway bookended the end of a rebuild and the start of a retool by the Rangers.
“I hope they’re not going to be hard on me,” Panarin joked when asked about playing his former teammates. “I don’t have time for that emotion, but, yeah, I’m just excited to play in MSG again.”
Coach Mike Sullivan said he enjoyed coaching Panarin — and that there’s likely to be emotions on both sides.
“A player like Bread who made an investment in the New York Rangers for the amount of time that he has, that first game back is always an emotional game for a player and his teammates,” he said. “I’m sure the guys that played with Bread and built friendships and relationships with him will have emotions attached to it also. I think that’s the human element.”
Panarin has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 10 games with the Kings, and produced four multi-point games, including a three-point effort in a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Ironically, the Rangers (28-30-8) are playing their best hockey of the season since the Panarin trade. They’re 6-1-2 after the Olympic break, and carry a season-high four-game winning streak into this one. New York still resides in last place in the Eastern Conference, but its recent turnaround is fairly stunning.
The Kings (27-24-15) are 4-5-1 with Panarin in the lineup, and sit one point out of the second wild card in the Western Conference. They close out a five-game road trip Monday.
3 storylines when Rangers host Kings
1. Don’t forget about Vlady
Emotions won’t just be running high for Panarin on Monday. This is a big game for his good friend and fellow countryman from Russia, Vladislav Gavrikov, too. After all, Gavrikov played 179 games over parts of three seasons with the Kings — and helped them become one of stingiest defensive teams in the NHL before he signed as a free agent with the Rangers last offseason.
This is his first game at MSG against his former team. Adding to the mixed emotions he’s sure to be feeling is that Gavrikov signed with the Rangers, in part, because of Panarin’s recruiting efforts. When this season began, Gavrikov and his family lived with the Panarins. The 30-year-old defenseman was noticeably hurt when the Rangers declared a retool and traded Panarin, who was then on an expiring contract. Ironically, the Panarins stayed at Gavrikov’s house after the trade.
Gavrikov is having an excellent season. He leads the Rangers, averaging a career-high 23:49 TOI, and shocked many by scoring 13 goals already this season, more than double his previous career-best (6). He had an assist against his old team in a 4-3 loss out in L.A. on Jan. 20, and comes off a career-best three points (one goals, two assists) in a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
2. Home boys
Beginning Monday, the Rangers schedule features 11 of their next 13 games at The Garden. That carries them to April 8, and from there they play the final three games of the 2025-26 season on the road.
Historically bad on home ice to begin the season, the Rangers have points in five straight at MSG (3-0-2), and four of their nine home wins are in their past eight contests (4-2-2) at 33rd and 7th. Still, their 9-15-6 home record is unsightly. But, like many parts of the Rangers overall game these days, things are looking up at MSG.
Only three of the remaining home games are against teams currently holding a playoff spot, each to be played in April — the Montreal Canadiens (on the 2nd), Detroit Red Wings (the 4th), and Buffalo Sabres (the 8th). A few of the opponents are fighting for their playoff lives, like the Kings. And there are two home games in 13 days against the rival New Jersey Devils, who handed the Rangers their only regulation loss since the Olympic break, 6-3 on March 7.
3. Look for more of the big guy in the middle
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan is intrigued by 6-foot-7 forward Adam Edstrom, especially now that he’s healthy after missing 33 games with a lower-body injury. A fourth-liner throughout most of his 92 games in the NHL over three seasons with the Rangers, the 25-year-old moved up to play left wing in the top six in their 6-3 win Thursday over the Winnipeg Jets. And he scored his third goal of the season.
On Saturday, Edstrom was back on the fourth line after J.T. Miller returned to the top six following a five-game injury absence. But Sullivan moved Edstrom to the middle, centering Jaroslav Chmelar and Taylor Raddysh. Edstrom hadn’t played center since junior hockey in Sweden, but didn’t look out of place in limited duty (10 shifts, less than eight minutes TOI).
“We wanted to see what it might look like if Eddy had the capability of playing in the middle,” Sullivan explained postgame. “Obviously, if you get a guy that’s 6-7 that has the capacity to play the position, especially in a fourth-line role, he can certainly be hard to play against with his size, his mobility, his reach. He can lean on people. In practice [Friday], they were helping him. J.T. and [Vincent Trocheck] and Mika [Zibanejad] were helping him on the face-off circle. I think we’ll continue to explore it with him.”
New York Rangers projected lineup
Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
J.T. Miller — Vincent Trocheck — Will Cuylle
Tye Kartye — Noah Laba — Conor Sheary
Taylor Raddysh — Adam Edstrom — Jaroslav Chmelar
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Will Borgen — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson — Urho Vaakanainen
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Kings: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings
When: Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
