3/16 Preview – Bread on Menu at MSG + Kempe Expected, Couple Game-Time Decisions, Special Teams Opportunity

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings conclude a five-game roadtrip this evening in New York City, as they visit the New York Rangers to conclude the season series.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Anze Kopitar has eight assists over his last eight games played against the Rangers, as he will play his final game at Madison Square Garden tonight. Forward Artemi Panarin is set to play his first game against the Rangers since 2019, when he scored a goal to help lead Columbus to a 3-2 victory over New York. Panarin has collected a point in nine consecutive games played against the Rangers, dating back to 2016.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate in advance of tonight’s game.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper was off the ice first this morning in New York, pointing towards him starting the trip finale tonight against the Rangers. Kuemper has a lifetime record of 10-4-0 versus New York, with a .906 save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average.

Sounds like there could be a couple of game-time decisions tonight, so sharing last game’s lineup for reference –

Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –

Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Byfield – Laferriere
Turcotte – Laughton – Wright
Malott – Helenius – Ward

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper
Forsberg

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 13, 2026

Forward Adrian Kempe did not skate this morning, with Interim D.J. Smith calling it “maintenance” related, adding that he expect Kempe to play this evening against the Rangers. Smith added that there are a couple of players banged up, so we’ll have to wait for warmups to see who plays. I do think that Alex Turcotte could be back in, with he and defenseman Jacob Moverare the options to check in, should the Kings want to or need to make any moves.

RANGERS VITALS: New York enters tonight’s action on a four-game winning streak, extended by sweeping a two-game trip against Minnesota and Winnipeg.

Per Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, here’s how the Rangers lined up last time out against the Wild –

#NYR warmup rushes for game No. 66 vs. #mnwild at Grand Casino Arena:

Perreault – Zibanejad – Lafrenière
Cuylle – Trocheck – Miller
Kartye – Laba – Sheary
Raddysh – Edström – Chmelař

Gavrikov – Fox
Robertson – Schneider
Vaakanainen – Borgen

Shesterkin
Quick

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 14, 2026

Reports from New York Rangers morning skate pointed towards goaltender Igor Shesterkin getting the start tonight for the hosts, denying us one final opportunity to see Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick share the ice together. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov is expected to suit up for the Rangers, however, coming off a three-point performance (1-2-3) in Saturday’s 4-2 victory over Minnesota.

Storyline Of The Day – Bread Is On The Menu
From 2019-20 through 2024-25, only three players in the NHL recorded more points on home ice than Artemi Panarin.

So, as Panarin enters Madison Square Garden this evening, he’ll be preparing to play hockey in a place that he has been extremely successful in over the six full seasons he spent playing for the New York Rangers.

One obvious difference, though, as he’ll head to the visiting dressing room for the first time since April 2019, when he last played in this building for the away team, as he scored a goal to help lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 shootout win over the Rangers. Which brings up another theme.

While Panarin has had so much success with the Rangers, he’s also had a lot of success against them. In 12 career games played against New York, Panarin has scored 12 goals, his highest goals-per-game pace against any opponent other than the Utah Mammoth. Now playing his hockey in Los Angeles, the Kings need Panarin to continue on that path, of finding success at Madison Square Garden, regardless of what jersey he’s wearing.

“I’m excited for him, but we need the points,” Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said of Panarin’s return to New York. “Once that puck drops, we need the points. The accolades and all those things are great, but at the end of the day, I think every guy in that room knows where we want to go and we’ve got to push and get ourselves a win.”

Similar in many ways to Anze Kopitar’s feelings after a special night in New Jersey, individually.

Great accomplishment, but he wants the win. Panarin certainly understands the nostalgia here and he had so many outstanding memories with the Rangers, including two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. He spoke extremely kindly of the fan support he received as a Ranger and considering the way he left, via an organizational decision, not a personal decision, you would expect a very warm reception from Rangers fans tonight as he comes back with Los Angeles.

It’s something that he certainly deserves, even though if you ask him, he might’ve preferred it to come next season.

“I wish it was going to be next year but I’ve got to deal with it very soon,” Panarin said. “I’ll probably try to be more relaxed, but I’m sure I will be a bit nervous. I’m just going to play my game, I try to be smart with that. I’m obviously excited to see the fans.”

It’s emotional to return to a place you spent so much time in. There’s the morning skate, when you see arena staff, former teammates, coaches and team staffers, media members, lots of people who were an everyday part of your life. Then you walk into the rink for the game, but it’s off a bus from the hotel. It’s different. It’s not just another road game, but it’s not home anymore, either. I’d expect a nice video tribute to Panarin during the first period and that should be a chance for Rangers fans to show their appreciation.

Will he get emotional in that moment?

“Depends which video they show,” he said with a laugh.

Moments of emotion, within 60 minutes of very important hockey for Panarin and his teammates.

The Kings need a win tonight and Panarin has 12 points (3-9-12) in his first 10 games played with the organization. He’s been a part of a resurgent top line that’s seen both Kopitar and Adrian Kempe deliver some of their best games of the season since Panarin came on board. Kempe has an eight-game scoring streak, tied for the longest active streak in the NHL, while Kopitar has seven points (3-4-7) over his last seven games played.

The common theme of those eight games is that was when that line was put together, eight games ago. Panarin has been everything the Kings acquired him to be and with a big game tonight, they’ll need him to do what he’s done for so many years – produce under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.

Exactly what he’s hoping to do.

“We’re battling for the playoffs, so I don’t have time for that emotion,” Panarin added this morning. “Just excited to play at MSG again.”

3 To Watch For –
– So, with that in mind, the Kings do have the opportunity tonight to finish their five-game trip with a record of 3-1-1.

“You get to the end of the roadtrip, you get a little bit tired and mentally, whatever, but good teams find a way to buckle down at the end of a trip, detail and structure, allow the individual to play,” Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said. “Then you’ve just got to play hard and let the chips fall where they may.”

I think that would be the baseline of what you’d consider to be a successful trip. In November, you take that trip every time. Seven of 10 points against five teams in the Eastern Conference, with two back-to-backs, that’s an awesome trip actually. The Kings should’ve gotten something from Saturday’s game though and the Boston game easily could’ve gone either way. With where the Kings are at in the standings, seeing a third-period lead slip away is a tough one to take. They likely won’t finish the season undefeated, so while it could have been more, when you look at what was available for the taking in New Jersey specifically, 3-1-1 is still a successful trip if the Kings can win tonight.

What can be done this evening in New York is keeping pace. Tonight is Game 66 for the Kings, which means there are 16 games remaining on the regular-season schedule at the conclusion of tonight’s game. With a victory, the Kings would move back into a tie for the second wild-card position in the Western Conference, remaining within a stone’s throw of higher teams in the standings.

So, to collect seven of 10 points would make for an acceptable trip. Two home games coming up at the end of the week against Philadelphia and Buffalo before a short trip against Utah, Calgary and Vancouver. Just feels like the Kings can’t afford to lose each night, so this one specifically, against a team that traded their best player to Los Angeles last month, is an important one.

A win tonight sends the Kings home closer than when they left and there is something to be taken from that.

– It’s felt like one step forward and one step back for the Kings on special teams.

Looking at the start of the trip, the Kings turned in a tremendous 4-of-4 showing in Boston and followed that up with three kills on three chances against the Islanders. It felt like momentum being built. Until it wasn’t.

The Kings got tagged for two power-play goals against in the third period on Saturday, both goals that gave New Jersey a lead off a tie game. With the margin for error being what it is, though, the Kings needed one of those two in the third period at least. They got scored on twice to seal their fate in a disappointing defeat.

The tough part is, too, that the Kings scored twice on the power play themselves in that game, with both of those goals coming with the team trailing. That’s huge and, frankly, a long-time coming for a group that has really improved their quality of chances on the power play as of late, despite not seeing the reward for it. It’s looked dangerous for some time now and that danger turned into two goals. They got that reward against New Jersey but it washed out the goals against, rather than separated the Kings.

“Right now, every game is like a playoff game, the margins are so little and special teams is an area where I think we can try and get an advantage on the other team,” forward Alex Laferriere said this morning. “Last game, our power play was good, penalty kill wasn’t so great, the other games our penalty kill has been great and the power play hasn’t. I think if we’re able to get those two synced up, we’re going to be pretty dangerous.”

Certainly an area that can make or break things over these final 17 games.

– Lastly, sounds like warmups tonight could be similar to what we saw in New Jersey, with the Kings dressing more than 18 skaters.

Smith said that there are a couple of guys banged up, which is unsurprising considering he said the same thing before the game against the Devils. As noted above, Kempe didn’t skate this morning but is expected to play tonight. So, I’d imagine that all 13 forwards on the trip suit up, perhaps defenseman Jacob Moverare as well, and we’ll see what we get some warmups this evening. Tends to be the case sometimes at this point in the season.

Kings and Rangers, roadtrip finale tonight at Madison Square Garden before a couple of games in Los Angeles later this week. Big two points, a chance to make for a solid trip with a win tonight.