Recap: Rangers' West Coast Woes Continue, Lose 4-3 in Los Angeles

Like something out of a soap opera, playing the Anaheim Ducks brought about the reunion of formerly scorned Rangers right on the heels of The Letter 2.0. Tonight, the New York Rangers hope to refocus on hockey as they continue their West Coast tour, playing the Los Angeles Kings on the second night of a back-to-back.

The lineup looks similar to last night, but Carson Soucy is returning to the ice, pushing Urho Vaakanainen back to observing from the press box. Jonathan Quick is also starting the game. While that was more than likely always the plan, it's a respectful nod from head coach Mike Sullivan, since both Quick and Vladislav Gavrikov are returning to their former hometown.

First Period

Things couldn't have started worse for the Rangers. Eighteen seconds—that's all it took for the Kings to score. Corey Perry made a long pass out of the Rangers' zone to Kempe, who was off to the races with Brandt Clarke. The two Kings players entered the Rangers' zone on a three-on-two, passed the puck back and forth, and Kempe slammed it home past Quick for what I'd guess is the fastest goal of his career.

Right after Quinton Byfield missed on a breakaway and failed to put the Kings up by two, the Rangers would strike and even the game. Close to the halfway point of the period, the puck was deep in the Los Angeles Kings' zone. Noah Laba forechecked and won a puck battle in the corner behind the net. Through double coverage, Laba made a pass to Scott Morrow at the blue line, who walked in, toe-dragged to change the trajectory of his shot, and sent it on goal. It bounced off of Kuemper and deflected off Moverare's skate right back through Kuemper's five-hole. At first thought to be Morrow's first goal for the Rangers, it was later credited to Will Cuylle for his eleventh goal of the year.

Less than a minute later, the Rangers won a face-off in their own zone. Gavrikov tried to clear the puck through the slot, but Kevin Fiala read the play and got his stick on the puck. He immediately lifted it past a sprawling Quick to give the Kings the lead again. A miserable play, which sometimes feels like only this team can experience.

After their second goal, it felt as if the Kings were playing with their prey. Getting odd-man rushes and making tic-tac-toe plays. Kuzmenko and Turcotte connected for a dangerous chance, but Quick came up big on their deflection attempt.

Late in the period, Miller and Zibanejad would team up for the perfect example of scoring off the cycle. Miller won the face-off in the offensive zone, Schneider sent the puck to Miller, who looped back around the zone while dropping off the puck for Zibanejad. Miller cut through the middle toward the net, while Zibanejad cycled around and stretched past the reach of the defender to make the perfect pass to Miller in the slot, who wasted no time putting the puck past Kuemper to tie the game at two—a genuine blueprint hockey goal.

As the period was coming to a close, Carrick and Brodzinski were on a two-on-one. Carrick made an excellent play to pass the puck to the middle, but Brodzinski was a bit too close to the net and collided with Kuemper. There was no penalty on the play, but Kuemper was shaken up and eventually left the game, being replaced by Anton Forsberg.

Second Period

The middle period began with both teams exchanging low-risk chances, mostly played in the neutral zone. Then, just under five minutes in, the Kings scored again. In what appeared to be a rather innocent-looking play, Jeff Malott knocked the puck loose in the corner of the Rangers' zone. Taylor Ward was in the right place at the right time and swept the puck on net, catching Quick off guard as it slid through his legs for the Kings' third lead of the night.

A quick note on Gabe Perreault, the kid has shown flashes of brilliance and has put in effort all over the ice. Down a goal, he hustled hard, racing the Kings defender to try to cancel out an icing; he lost the race, but the level of effort was refreshing to see, and based on his skating just now, the criticisms of his skating and speed during his draft year are no longer accurate.

The Rangers' most significant chance of the period would come when the Kings took two penalties less than thirty seconds apart. Laferriere would go off for roughing Cuylle, only to be followed by Edmundson for tripping Trocheck. The Blueshirts would get some quality chances, but were mostly kept to the perimeter during the two-man advantage. Just as the first penalty was killed off, Miller and Cuylle were stuffed at the door by Forsberg, who then stood tall once again when Zibanejad sent the puck on net for an in-close deflection by Miller again. Though the Rangers managed to pepper Forsberg with eight shots on net during their power play, the Kings' one-goal lead remained intact for now.

Shortly after the Kings were back to even strength, they turned that one-goal lead into two. Taking advantage of the Rangers' failure to clear the zone, Kuzmenko made them pay. Fiala forced Carrick toward the boards, and though Raddysh supported Carrick, Edmundson came away with the puck. It ended up back with Fiala, who put a hard shot on net, and Kuzmenko, who was still deep in the Rangers zone, scooped the rebound past Quick.

As the period ended, any momentum the Rangers tried to build was killed when Schneider was called for a penalty. Late in the second, the defenseman took two separate penalties four minutes apart. The Rangers were able to kill them off, but common sense dictates that when you're down two goals, you need to stay out of the box.

Third Period

Whether Mike Sullivan berated the team or they stumbled upon some of "Michael's Secret Stuff" from Space Jam is unknown, but the Rangers came out ready to play in the third period. All of their lines were pressing and getting good looks, with Lafrenière and Panarin getting multiple quality chances. The Blueshirts dominated the game; it took the Kings almost eight minutes to get their first shot on net.

Despite the Rangers' hot start to the period, the Kings found their game and began pressuring the Rangers back. In a bizarre sequence, the Kings scored again, increasing their lead temporarily to three. Perry crashed the net from the side of the Rangers' zone. Perry went down, feigning injury, and nudged Quick, who was slightly out of position, and missed Laferriere's shot. The Rangers' bench wasted no time challenging the goal, and after a lengthy review, it was overturned for goaltender interference, reducing the Kings' leadto two.

The Rangers continued to push the pace, but were still unable to beat Forsberg. They pulled Quick for the extra attacker around the three-minute mark. They moved the puck swiftly around the offensive zone, but were unable to create any dangerous chances. Passes were just barely too far, and deflection attempts were just wide. The Kings got multiple opportunities to score an empty-net goal, with Adrian Kempe going for a wraparound only to be stuffed by Gavrikov. Even Forsberg tried to send it the length of the ice.

With just over 30 seconds left in the game, the Rangers took their timeout. They drew up a play and won the first faceoff, but were unable to get their shot through as Warren Foegle got in front of it deflecting it inton the stands. Trocheck won the ensuing faceoff, and Gavrikov passed it to Miller, who one-timed the puck past Forsberg to bring the Rangers within one with 25 seconds left in the game.

After the Kings iced the puck, it came down to the last faceoff with four seconds left. J.T. Miller took the faceoff. The first puck drop was ruled no good by the linesman, so the centers lined up again. This time Miller won the puck back to the blue line. Panarin walked the line and wristed it on net. Trocheck made the last follow-up attempt but sent it wide as the buzzer sounded. Though it was an uneven effort throughout the night, the Rangers skated hard until the very end, but ultimately Miller's goal would be the only one to get past Forsberg, as they fell to the Kings in Los Angeles.