Doughty’s Three-Point Night Leads Kings Past Rangers 6-3

Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists as the Los Angeles Kings scored three times in the first period and defeated the New York Rangers 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday, October 26.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist against his former team. Taylor Ward, Brandt Clarke, Mikey Anderson and Joel Edmundson also scored for Los Angeles, which improved to 3-5-2. Four of the Kings’ six goals came from defensemen.

Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves. James Reimer stopped five of eight shots in the first period before Dylan Garand took over for New York, which fell to 7-6-1. Garand made 15 saves on 17 shots and was the official losing goalie. J.T. Miller, Adam Fox and Tye Kartye scored for the Rangers.

Scoring summary

Doughty answers Miller; Kings stretch the lead to four

Ward opened the scoring at 1:15, assisted by Doughty and Trevor Moore. Clarke made it 2-0 at 4:52 during a delayed penalty, with Scott Laughton and Joel Armia assisting. Los Angeles had Kuemper off for an extra attacker on that play.

Miller cut New York’s deficit to 2-1 at 13:01, assisted by Kartye, but Doughty restored the two-goal margin at 17:32. Edmundson and Panarin assisted on Doughty’s goal. The Kings led 3-1 after a first period in which they put eight shots on Reimer.

Garand replaced Reimer to start the second period. Panarin scored on the power play at 1:30, assisted by Erik Gustafsson and Alex Laferriere, and Anderson made it 5-1 at 6:54 with Corey Perry assisting. Those goals gave the Kings their largest lead.

Fox answered on New York’s only power-play opportunity at 13:05 of the second, with Pavel Dorofeyev and Alexis Lafrenière receiving the assists. Kartye brought the Rangers within 5-3 at 16:08 of the third period while Garand was off for an extra attacker. Edmundson scored into the empty net 29 seconds later, assisted by Doughty and Laferriere.

The Rangers had signed Reimer to a one-year contract on Sunday after his 35-save shutout for Hartford on Friday. His first-period appearance against Los Angeles ended without a decision; Garand was charged with the loss because Panarin’s fourth Kings goal became the game-winner.

Quinton Byfield played 17:10 and recorded two shots after missing two games with an upper-body injury. His availability had been unconfirmed in the Kings’ pregame update.

Kings spread the scoring; Sullivan challenges Rangers readiness

Ward credited the breakout work by Moore and Doughty on the opening goal, then pointed to the Kings’ wider contributions, saying “it’s good to get everybody involved” in the LA Kings Insider postgame account. He contrasted that support with the earlier reliance on the top line.

Coach Peter Laviolette connected the performance to speed and collective decisions. “We played the game fast, we made good decisions and we attacked,” he said in the same account. He also said using the bench helped manage minutes before the next night’s game in Chicago.

Doughty emphasized how Los Angeles reacted after Miller’s first-period goal. “If we give up a goal, we can’t deflate, we need to go and get the next one,” he told NHL.com. His goal at 17:32 restored the margin Miller had reduced.

Rangers coach Mike Sullivan separated his goaltending predicament from the team’s readiness. With injuries affecting the goaltending group and Garand’s workload increasing, he accepted responsibility for putting newly signed Reimer into a difficult start, saying “that’s on me” in his official postgame interview.

On the separate question of the compressed schedule, Sullivan said, “I don’t think we had enough guys that were ready to play from the drop of the puck.” He acknowledged effective stretches and made clear that the criticism did not apply to everyone.

Miller rejected the schedule as an explanation for New York’s performance. “We’re making it too easy. We’re lacking physicality,” he said in the Rangers’ player interviews. Zibanejad described disconnected spacing that left players unable to pressure the puck and support one another: “We’re late everywhere. We don’t close.” He said the break before New York’s next game offered a chance to reset.

Team comparison

Five-on-five combinations and special situations

Los Angeles outscored New York 3-1 during 50:45 of strict five-on-five play. The Rangers held a 23-17 edge in shots on goal. The rest of the scoring came in different situations: Brandt Clarke scored with a delayed-penalty extra attacker, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox scored on power plays, Tye Kartye scored with New York’s goalie pulled, and Joel Edmundson finished into the empty net.

Adrian Kempe, Panarin and Alex Laferriere shared 11:04 at five-on-five with a 10-2 shot advantage and a 1-0 goal advantage. The Kings’ most-used trio of Erik Haula, Joel Armia and Scott Laughton shared 11:49; it was outshot 6-1 without a goal at either end.

Trevor Moore, Quinton Byfield and Taylor Ward were together for 8:12, with a 6-2 shot disadvantage and one goal for each club. Corey Perry, Andre Lee and Samuel Helenius shared 5:03 and were on the ice for a Kings goal, with shots even at 2-2.

Drew Doughty and Edmundson shared 17:09 at five-on-five, the Kings’ most-used defensive pair. Los Angeles scored twice and allowed no goal with them together, while shots were 8-6 in New York’s favor. Erik Gustafsson and Clarke had a 7-4 shot advantage over 14:18 without a goal at either end.

For New York, J.T. Miller, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Kartye shared 12:56 with a 6-2 shot advantage and the Rangers’ only five-on-five goal. Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafrenière and Gabe Perreault were together for 12:17; the Kings outshot that combination 6-4 and scored twice. Vladislav Gavrikov and Fox were the Rangers’ busiest pair at 16:20, with a 10-9 shot edge and one goal against.

Los Angeles: forward trios at five-on-five

Los Angeles: defense pairs at five-on-five

New York: forward trios at five-on-five

New York: defense pairs at five-on-five

Player statistics

Los Angeles Kings

New York Rangers

Goaltending

Penalties

What's next

The Kings visit the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday, October 27, at 8 p.m. EDT. The Rangers next host the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, November 1, at 6 p.m. EST.

Official video and statistical sources

• NHL game highlights
• NHL condensed game
• Official NHL Gamecenter, scoring and box score
• Official game summary
• Official event summary and individual deployment
• Official on-ice play-by-play
• Los Angeles shift report
• New York shift report

All nine official goal videos

• Taylor Ward: 1P 01:15
• Brandt Clarke: 1P 04:52
• J.T. Miller: 1P 13:01
• Drew Doughty: 1P 17:32
• Artemi Panarin: 2P 01:30
• Mikey Anderson: 2P 06:54
• Adam Fox: 2P 13:05
• Tye Kartye: 3P 16:08
• Joel Edmundson: 3P 16:37