Kings Torch Rangers 6-3, Doughty Runs the Show
Los Angeles put up six goals and never trailed, handing New York a 6-3 loss that was effectively over before the first period ended. James Reimer made his Rangers debut and was pulled after the first period, stopping 5 of 8 shots in what looks like a night the organization would rather forget.
The Kings wasted no time. Taylor Ward snapped one past the Rangers net at 1:15 of the first — Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore picking up assists — and the tone was set immediately. Less than four minutes later, Brandt Clarke tipped in his third of the season to make it 2-0. New York got one back when J.T. Miller deflected a shot at 13:01, but Doughty answered with a snap shot of his own at 17:32, assisted by Joel Edmundson and Artemi Panarin, to send LA into the first intermission up 3-1. That's when Reimer — signed to a one-year deal and making his Rangers debut — was pulled, having allowed 3 goals on 8 shots.
The second period buried New York. Panarin, now wearing Kings colors, scored his seventh of the season just 90 seconds in, and Mikey Anderson followed with a slap shot at 6:54 to push it to 5-1. Adam Fox provided a brief spark for the home side with a snap shot at 13:05, but the damage was already done. Dylan Garand came on in relief and stopped 15 of 17 shots — respectable numbers, but the game was long gone. Doughty finished with 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points, Panarin added 1 goal and 1 assist, and Edmundson chipped in 1 goal and 1 assist. Darcy Kuemper was steady in the LA net, stopping 23 of 26 shots.
The Rangers made it cosmetically interesting in the third — Tye Kartye scored at 16:08 to cut it to 5-3 — but Joel Edmundson answered 29 seconds later with a wrist shot off a Doughty feed to restore the three-goal cushion at 6-3. The story of the night was LA's first-period stranglehold: four goals before the horn, a goaltending change forced, and a game that never had a second act. New York appears to be in a rough stretch — this follows a 7-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday — and the goaltending situation looks unsettled after Reimer's difficult debut. For LA, Doughty running a three-point night from the blue line is the kind of performance that makes this team genuinely dangerous.