A rematch of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final – the LA Kings host the New York Rangers with two games remaining on their seven-game homestand.
Tale of the Tape
Powerplay:
LAK: 16.8% (25th)
NYR: 23.4% (9th)
Penalty Kill:
LAK: 74.8% (27th)
NYR: 84.8% (4th)
Faceoffs:
LAK: 53.9% (5th)
NYR: 47.3% (26th)
Goals per game:
LAK: 2.71 (23rd)
NYR: 2.89 (18th)
Goals against per game:
LAK: 2.63 (8th)
NYR: 2.50 (3rd)
Top scorers:
LAK: Anze Kopitar – 9 goals, 20 assists, 29 points
NYR: Artemi Panarin – 10 goals, 26 assists, 36 points / Adam Fox – 5 goals, 31 assists, 36 points
Here are three things to keep an eye on tonight:
1. Rangers get Artemi Panarin back
The New York Rangers have been hit hard with positive COVID cases, but they’ve been slowly getting pieces back into their lineup. On Sunday, forward Artemi Panarin cleared protocol and re-joined the team at practice.
Unfortunately, Rangers’ head coach Gerard Gallant swapped places with Panarin, and he will not be behind the bench on Monday.
Panarin said he did have symptoms for the "first couple days," which may explain why it took him a little longer to get cleared.
Is he good to go tomorrow?
"For sure, I’m ready. I hope for long term I don’t have any problems with conditioning."
Said "timing" will be key. #NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) January 9, 2022
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth was also activated off COVID protocol, but his status remains unclear for Monday.
Panarin, 30, last played on New Year’s Eve, and the Rangers went 3-1-0 in his absence. However, the team sorely missed his presence on the man advantage. Without No. 10, the Rangers went 3-for-15 on the powerplay, with no goals in the past two games.
The Russian forward, who has two goals and 11 assists on the man advantage this season, is expected to return to the lineup on Monday. In 12 career games against LA, Panarin has five goals and 10 points.