After all that, after points in eight of nine games following the Olympic break and a four-game winning streak, the Rangers are back.
That much became clear during a 4-1 loss to the Kings on Monday night at the Garden, where the return of Artemi Panarin following his trade last month was just about all that Blueshirts fans had to cheer for most of the game. Boos echoed through the Garden again at the end of the second period.
They had as many shots on goal through two frames (nine) as the Kings had blocked shots. If the past three weeks served as the Rangers teasing that they might’ve somehow, finally, in the most too-little-too-late way possible, turned a corner, this loss served as a reality check.
It was fitting, in a way, that all this unfolded with Panarin back on Broadway for the first time since becoming the major domino to fall after The Letter 2.0. Rangers fans cheered for him at the end of warmups, when, from near center ice, he flipped a puck into the Kings net and then the Rangers net and then veered toward the tunnel.
They gave him an ovation again during the first timeout, when a tribute played on the scoreboard to welcome back the former franchise cornerstone who arrived as a marquee free agent in 2019 and then matched expectations for the next six-plus seasons.
Mike Sullivan knew it would be an emotional game. All the Rangers did. That’s what happens in these situations. Panarin even picked up an assist on the first goal of the game, when Drew Doughty’s shot from the point found its way through a cluster of traffic and past Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers had their chances, even if the shot attempts didn’t rack up and they failed to score three goals in a game for the first time this month.
Gabe Perreault nearly ripped a shot past Darcy Kuemper in the first period. Jaroslav Chmelar made a strong move toward the net with his backhand and had open space, but he lifted it wide.
And eventually, the Kings, all of a sudden in the middle of a playoff race in the Western Conference and fueled by their recent pickup, found a way to add to their lead. Mikey Anderson flipped a rebound past Shesterkin. Alex Laferriere whacked home another rebound, too, just 11 seconds into a power play after Vincent Trocheck was called for high-sticking.
Trocheck finally got them on the board 2:27 into the third when he tipped an Adam Fox shot from the point on the power play that dribbled five-hole past Kuemper.
Perreault, with just over eight minutes left, hit the post and crossbar on the same shot, nearly giving the Blueshirts a second goal. Urho Vaakanainen flung a puck toward the net that slowly slid untouched across the crease behind Kuemper, but the Rangers couldn’t convert.
And by that point, the version of the Rangers had regressed back to the mean of their season, back to the version currently occupying the basement of the Eastern Conference.
One goal wasn’t enough to save them. Too many of the mistakes that haunted them throughout the season reappeared.
On a night that belonged to Panarin, to his return and to glimpses of what the Rangers are missing and simultaneously trying to replace in their lineup as they navigate the retool, the Blueshirts couldn’t find a way to spoil it.
