Rangers Face Kings with Former Stars Returning to the Garden

The Rangers are set to face a significant challenge as they aim to maintain their flawless home record, with an exciting match on the horizon that could be historic. This game carries with it the return of two familiar faces.

First up is former head coach Peter Laviolette, who famously guided the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy and the Eastern Conference finals in the 2023-24 season before his dismissal a year later. Now, he’s nine games into his new role as head coach of the Kings, making his first return to the Garden since leaving. Accompanying him will be Artemi Panarin, the talented forward traded last year just ahead of the Olympic roster freeze, who is making his second appearance back at the Garden as a member of the Kings.

Laviolette’s tenure with the Rangers began impressively, achieving a remarkable 114-point season, which the following year dropped to 85 points, resulting in the team missing the playoffs in 2024-25. Under his leadership, the Rangers set franchise records for points and wins (55) during his inaugural season, bringing them extremely close to competing for the ultimate championship. He also made history as the first coach in NHL history to guide six different teams to the playoffs, though the following season didn’t go quite as well.

This offseason, Laviolette was reunited with Panarin, who had a standout individual season under his guidance in 2023-24, racking up 120 points with 49 goals and 71 assists. When Panarin was traded to Los Angeles in exchange for Liam Greentree and a third-round pick, he left the Rangers ranked ninth all-time in points (607), eighth in assists (401), and first in points per game (1.26).

Despite a rocky start for the Kings, where they only managed two wins initially, Panarin shone in a recent overtime victory against the Islanders, scoring two goals and tallying a total of six goals and nine points so far. Monday’s game will serve as a reminder for the Rangers of what might have been had they not fallen to the Panthers in the previous year’s conference finals, alongside a decline in performance from their long-standing core the following season.

The Rangers have been impressive at home, securing six victories while struggling on the road with only one win and three points total. They entered Sunday’s games leading the league in goals per game (4.83), as well as having the second-most overall goals (29) at home this season. A win in this game would mark the first time since a streak in 1990-91 that they would start the season with seven straight home victories.

Now, the Kings, with Laviolette and Panarin at the helm, aim to put an end to that winning streak.

As head coach Mike Sullivan noted when wrapping up thoughts on the Rangers’ home success versus road struggles, “We’re trying to build a team game that sets the group up for success regardless of where we play it… It’s not like we have a game plan for home and a game plan for the road.”

“Our guys have played extremely well at home, and we’ve had some success, which is great, and we gotta continue to build on that,” he added.

Looking ahead, defenseman Adam Fox is set to mark his 500th career game on Monday. Meanwhile, Mats Zuccarello, who spent a notable nine seasons with the Rangers from 2010-19, has recorded one assist in his first five games with the Kings this season.