NHL-ийн улирлын эхлэлийг тун амжилттай хийж буй Рейнжерс талбайдаа долоо дахь дараалсан ялалтаа байгуулахын төлөө Лос-Анжелес Кингс багтай хүч үзэхээр бэлтгэж байна.
Рейнжерс талбайдаа хийсэн зургаан тоглолтод бүгдэд нь ялалт байгуулаад байгаа бөгөөд энэ удаагийн тоглолт тэдний хувьд түүхэн амжилтыг үргэлжлүүлэх сорилт болно. Энэхүү тоглолтод 2023-2024 оны улиралд Рейнжерс багийг удирдан амжилт гаргаж байсан дасгалжуулагч Питер Лавиолетт болон тус багт од тоглогч байсан Артемий Панарин нар эргэн ирж, Лос-Анжелес Кингс багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд эсрэг талд гарах юм.
Питер Лавиолетт Рейнжерс багт байх хугацаандаа 55 хожил байгуулж, багийг дорнод бүсийн финалд шалгаруулж байсан ч дараагийн улирал нь амжилтгүй болж багаа орхисон. Харин Артемий Панарин өнгөрсөн улиралд Лос-Анжелес Кингс рүү солилцоогоор явсан бөгөөд энэ улиралд 6 гоол, 9 оноотой тоглож байна.
Рейнжерс багийн ерөнхий дасгалжуулагч Майк Салливан багийнхаа талбайн амжилтын талаар дурдахдаа, хаана тоглож байгаагаас үл хамааран өөрсдийн тоглолтын хэв маягийг тулгах нь чухал гэдгийг онцоллоо. Мөн энэхүү тоглолтод хамгаалагч Адам Фокс карьерийнхаа 500 дахь тоглолтод оролцох бол 2010-2019 оны хооронд Рейнжерс багт тоглож байсан Матс Зуккарелло Лос-Анжелес Кингс багийн төлөө талбайд гарах юм.
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The next test for the Rangers’ perfect home record — the next possibility to play spoiler to a start nearing the point of being a historic one — will involve a pair of Garden returns.
Former head coach Peter Laviolette, who led the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy and the Eastern Conference finals in 2023-24 before getting fired one year later, is nine games into his first season as head coach of the Kings and will return to the Garden for the first time since his exit. And Artemi Panarin, the star who was dealt last year before the Olympic roster freeze and made his return in March, will play his second game back at the Garden as a member of the Kings.
Laviolette’s 114-point campaign with the Blueshirts was followed up by an 85-point one, and the Rangers missed the playoffs in 2024-25. He helped them set records for points and wins (55) during that first year, bringing the franchise to the cusp of a return to the sport’s ultimate stage — while becoming the first coach in NHL history to guide six different teams to the playoffs — before a collapse followed the next season.
But in the offseason, the Kings reunited Laviolette with Panarin, who had his best individual season under the coach in 2023-24 with 120 points (49 goals, 71 assists). When Panarin was dealt to Los Angeles last year in exchange for Liam Greentree and a third-round pick, he left Broadway in ninth place all time for most points by a Ranger (607), eighth all time for most assists (401) and first for points-per-game (1.26).
The Kings struggled to start the season and have collected just two wins, but in an overtime win against the Islanders last week, Panarin scored a pair of goals and is already up to six goals and nine points. In a way, that’ll turn Monday into a reminder of what could’ve been for the Rangers if they didn’t fall to the Panthers in the 2024 conference finals — and if their longtime core didn’t take a major step back the following season.
The Rangers have already won six games at the Garden while managing just one victory and three points on the road, and they entered play Sunday with the most goals per game (4.83) and the second-most total goals (29) at home this season. With a win, the Rangers will open a season with seven consecutive home wins for the first time since an eight-game streak in 1990-91.
The Kings — now led by Laviolette and Panarin — will test that and have a chance to end that run.
“We’re trying to build a team game that sets the group up for success regardless of where we play it,” head coach Mike Sullivan said Sunday of the Rangers’ home success and road struggles, “and we’re trying to dictate the terms of how we play the game every single night — regardless of which rink we play it in. And so it’s not like we have a game plan for home and a game plan for the road.”
“And so obviously 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.”
Defenseman Adam Fox will skate in his 500th career game Monday. … Mats Zuccarello, who spent parts of nine seasons with the Rangers from 2010-19, has one assist through five games in his first season with the Kings.
