The LA Kings concluded their roadtrip with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday evening at Madison Square Garden and will head back home with a record of 3-1-1 across their five games played on the East Coast.

Los Angeles picked up the only goal from the opening period, as defenseman Drew Doughty got the scoring started for the visitors. In his return to Madison Square Garden, forward Artemi Panarin was involved on the play, as he worked the puck up high to defenseman Mikey Anderson, who quickly slid it to Doughty at the right point. Doughty’s shot through traffic eluded everyone, including New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin, for the 1-0 lead.

Early in the second period, the Kings scored twice in a span of 28 seconds to open up a 3-0 advantage.

First, Anderson made it a multi-point game as he crashed the net to finish off a nice play between forwards Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere. Anderson’s goal was his fourth of the season, putting the Kings up by two. Skating on the power play less than 30 seconds later, Laferriere made it a multi-point game at the net, as he whacked a rebound out of mid-air, past Shesterkin and in for his 17th goal of the season and a three-goal advantage.

New York pulled a goal back early in the third period, as the Rangers cashed in with a power-play goal to move within 3-1. Operating on the man advantage, the hosts worked the puck to defenseman Adam Fox at the center point. Fox changed the angle a bit before he got his shot off, with forward Vincent Trocheck getting a deflection along the way to get New York on the board.

Los Angeles iced the scoring late in the third period, as Laferriere collected his third point of the game. Skating in transition, Laferriere worked the puck to forward Trevor Moore, who scored on the empty net for his ninth goal of the season, bringing us to the final score of 4-1 Kings.

Hear from Panarin, Byfield and Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith after tonight’s victory.

Artemi Panarin

Quinton Byfield
On tonight’s victory in New York
I feel like to end a road trip, come out like that, finish it off strong, and end up with a good Roadies, it shows what we have in here. We’re excited to move forward.

On the biggest adjustment he felt the team made at the first intermission
I think we just kept being aggressive and we just stayed with our game plan and it just opened up a little bit more for us. We started hemming them in some shifts, made some good changes and we started clicking more.

On seeing several guys step up offensively with Adrian Kempe out of the lineup
Juice is such a big part of our team and that’s a big void to fill. You just need a lot of guys to step up and contribute, just fill in as much as we can with him missing. A lot of guys stepped up tonight and got the job done.

On getting the win on Artemi Panarin’s return to Madison Square Garden
It was a big one for Bread and being a new member of our team, and fitting in so well, super excited to have him. We wanted to really do it for him, his homecoming. Obviously you could just hear by all the cheers how much they loved him here and how much he meant to the city. That was a big one for us and a big one for Bread.

D.J. Smith
On his takeaways from tonight’s victory
I thought really good. First period, pretty even, but a good effort by us. We had chances, we find a way to score. Second period was really good, I think we pressed hard, we were physical, we made it really hard on them. Third period, we didn’t make some of the breakout plays or plays maybe that we wanted to, but we grinded it out. We used everybody. I think every player up front got north of 10 minutes, especially what you would call, I guess, your fourth line. Those guys were really good. All-around, a gutsy effort by the guys at the end of the trip.

On the adjustments made at the first intermission
We want to be physical, we want to hit. When defensemen are getting hit, it’s hard for them to make plays. The first period, we didn’t get a ton going. The second period, we got some contact and we were able to keep some pucks alive and we created some chances.

On if he has any update on Adrian Kempe and Mathieu Joseph stepping in tonight
No, just lower body and I think at this point, it’s day-to-day. We weren’t sure, but he went out for warmups and couldn’t go. Even better, Matty Joseph comes in plays on that line. A bunch guys rotated around, but he’s a guy that’s played in big games, he’s played in the NHL playoffs, so he’s a good guy for us, that we picked him up and he’s able to help us in games like this,

On the third period tonight and getting the game over the line
Yeah, I mean, it’s weird how it works. Sometimes, it just kind of comes natural. They were putting their top two lines every other shift and they were really pushing and sometimes, just the way it goes. We have to do better job there, in saying that, we’ve got to make sure that we’re managing the puck and we still found a way to win.

On the Moore/Byfield/Laferriere Line
They’re arguably as fast and work as hard as any line in the league. They can play against anyone and they can also make you pay. With Juice out, it hurts, because I was using one of those guys periodically with Kopi, but the contribution from both those guys [was good]. Say what you want, but I think Kopi continues to be one of, if not our best player every single night here, over the last little bit.

On the team playing for Artemi Panarin tonight in his return to New York
I just think right now we’ve got a group of guys that are really pushing for each other. Some nights, it’s going to require Bread to play 20-something minutes and the next night, it might be 18 or 19. I think at the end of the trip, it was key to get everyone involved and efforts from everyone. Late in the year like this, guys are tired, we’re going to need efforts from everyone and I think we got it.

Notes –
– Defenseman Drew Doughty (1-0=1) opened the scoring of tonight’s matchup at Madison Square Garden with his fifth of the season. The goal was Doughty’s first goal and 10th point (1-9=10) in 27 regular-season appearances against the New York Rangers. Per NHL PR, the only team that Doughty has faced and is yet to score against is the Seattle Kraken (0-4=4 in 11 GP), whom the Kings will visit on April 13.
– Defenseman Mikey Anderson (1-1=2) picked up his 11th assist of the season on Doughty’s goal in the first period before adding a goal of his own early in the second period, his fourth marker of the year. This is Anderson’s second multi-point performance of the year, following his two-point showing (1-1=2) on March 5 against the Islanders at Crypto.com Arena. The 26-year-old blueliner now has four points (1-3=4) in five career road games against the Rangers.
– Forward Alex Laferriere (1-2=3) recorded his third multi-point effort and second three-point performance of the campaign with his first career points against the New York Rangers this evening. The 24-year-old notched his 14th assist of the year with the primary set-up on Anderson’s goal before tapping home his 17th goal of the season 28 seconds later, which marked the Kings’ fastest two goals on the road since Jan. 16, 2025 (0:24 at VAN). The goal is Laferriere’s second of the season on the power play, matching the career-high he set in the category last season. Laferriere then notched his 15th helper of the season with an assist on Trevor Moore’s empty-net goal.
– Forward Trevor Moore (1-0=1) scored his ninth goal of the year to seal tonight’s victory, his second strike in his last three games (1-0=1 on March 13 at NYI).
– Forward Artemi Panarin (0-1=1) recorded his 48th assist of the season in his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since being acquired by the Kings from the Rangers on Feb. 3. Panarin has found the scoresheet in all seven of his career visits to Madison Square Garden and now has 19 points (12-7=19) in 13 games played against the Manhattan-based club, the highest rate of production (1.46 points-per-game-played) against the Ranges by any active skater with at least 10 games played.
– Panarin has recorded 10 assists in his first 11 games played with the Kings, tying Kevin Fiala (11 GP) for the fifth-fewest games to 10 assists with the franchise. The only players to reach the mark faster are Chris Kontos (6 GP), Wayne Gretzky (7 GP), Larry Robinson (8 GP) and Marcel Dionne (10 GP).
– Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) collected his 21st assist of the campaign, the 1,309th point of his career (450-859=1,309) to build on his title as the LA Kings all-time leading scorer. Kopitar now has eight points (4-4=8) in his last eight games, dating back to Monday, March 2, against the Colorado Avalanche. The veteran leaves the ice in the Empire State for the final time in his career having scored 28 (9-19=28) of his 1,309 career points in 30 regular-season appearances against the New York Rangers.
– Forward Quinton Byfield (0-2=2) notched his 21st and 22nd assists of the season to secure his 10th multi-point outing of the season, tying defenseman Brandt Clarke (10 GP) for the second most among Kings skaters this year behind Adrian Kempe (12 GP).
– Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves on 22 of the Rangers’ shots on goal this evening to earn his 17th win of the campaign.

The Kings will have a full team day off tomorrow. The team will return to the ice for practice on Wednesday, March 18 at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.