NEW YORK -- The Los Angeles Kings made it three wins in four road games, accomplishing win No. 3 with a decisive 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Six different Kings scored as Los Angeles handed New York it first home loss in seven games this season. Twelve different Kings players had points, including eight from defensemen.
"I thought it was really good from start to finish. We played the game fast and made really good decisions,'' Kings coach Peter Laviolette said. "There were alot of positives. To get the whole bench involved was really good."
Taylor Ward scored on a breakaway 75 seconds into his first game of the campaign and defenseman Brandt Clarke scored his second goal in three games less than four minutes later against 38-year-old goaltender James Reimer, who was making his Rangers debut.
Rangers captain J.T. Miller narrowed the deficit at 13:01 before Kings captain Drew Doughty restored the two-goal margin at 17:32 when his blast from the point eluded Reimer.
It was the first time since starter Igor Shesterkin was injured Oct. 9 and subsequently declared out for season with a lower-body injury that Dylan Garand didn’t start for the Rangers. Reimer had immediate trouble in the crease, allowing three goals on eight shots in the opening stanza before he was pulled in favor of Garand. Ward's goal came on the Kings' first shot on goal, Clarke's goal on their second.
Former Ranger Artemi Panarin greeted Garand by scoring his team-leading seventh goal at 1:30 of the second on the power play. Panarin played seven seasons for the Rangers, scoring 205 goals in 485 games.
Panarin’s best season came when Laviolette was coaching New York two seasons ago. Panarin scored a career-high 49 goals and posted a career-best 120 points during a 2023-24 campaign in which New York won 55 times and accrued 114 points before falling in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson continued the scoring barrage at 6:54 of the second, extending the lead to 5-1.
"It was good to score early and keep getting the next one,'' Anderson said.
Adam Fox, playing his 500th NHL game for the Rangers, scored on the power-play at 13:05 of the second. Ty Karyte made it 5-3 at 16:08 of the third before Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson completed the scoring with an empty-net goal.
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for his third win. He also beat Washington and the New York Islanders earlier on the Kings five-game trip which will conclude on Tuesday in Chicago.
The Kings were without former Ranger Mats Zuccarello who was put on injured reserve earlier Monday with an upper-body injury. The 39-year-old Zuccarello, who has one assist in six games with the Kings, is 31 games from 1,000 games played in his NHL career.
With the victory, Laviolette tied Ken Hitchcock for sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list with 849.
"I'm fortunate to be around the game long way and reach a number like that,'' he said. "So many great players I've worked with, so many great coaches with so many great organizations. I'm blessed to have been in it this long if I'm being honest."
Laviolette reflected before the game on coaching the Rangers for two seasons – the first a Presidents’ Trophy-winning year, the second with a team that slipped to 85 points and missed the playoffs. The Kings are the seventh team Laviolette has coached in 24 seasons behind an NHL bench.
“It was kind of a tale of two years. The first year was really good, I mean, most wins and most points for a very storied franchise’’ he said. “I'll remember being here in New York. Obviously, the second year was not as smooth and had problems.”
The Kings can now look ahead to finishing the road trip in Chicago on a high note. After starting the season 0-4-2 they have a chance for four wins in five games away from Los Angeles.
"We're feeling more confident day by day. I think this road trip was good for us to build chemistry," Ward said. "Road trips are important early in the season. It's been good so far and we're looking to close it out with a win tomorrow."
The Rangers held a moment of silence before the game for Ron Duguay, a fan favorite and consistent scorer particularly in the playoffs for New York in the late 1970s and early 80s. Duguay, who passed at age 69 last Thursday, finished his NHL career with the Kings when he scored seven goals and had 24 points in 1988-89, which was Wayne Gretzky’s first season in Los Angeles.