Coming off a disappointing 4-0 shutout loss to the Washington Capitals on Dec. 9, the New York Rangers had a strong response in an impressive 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden.

Having lost two straight games in which they were largely outplayed, the Rangers needed a good performance against one of the league’s best teams. The Kings entered last night without a regulation defeat on the road. They had their perfect road record snapped by the New York Islanders in a 3-2 overtime defeat on Dec. 9. They still were 11-0-1 away from home before Sunday night’s game.

Little Offense in Tightly Contested First Period

Facing the league’s best defense, the Rangers found it difficult to generate anything early against the Kings. There was little offense in a tightly contested first period. In fact, the Rangers only mustered five shots on LA netminder Pheonix Copley. He could’ve had a lounge chair with a book during the opening period.

While the Kings at least tested former Stanley Cup hero Jonathan Quick with nine shots, the Rangers refused to shoot the puck. Instead, they tried too many passes that went right into the teeth of the Kings’ defense. The reluctance to take shots made it a very dull period. At least Quick kept his former team off the scoreboard.

Inspired Second Leads to Two Goals

After not accomplishing much in the first, the Rangers put that behind them. A more inspired second period led to two goals. It was a bit of a role reversal with the Rangers playing more aggressively in the Kings’ end.

Able to attack better while limiting the Kings to just two shots, the Rangers together a good second to take control of the game. After Artemi Panarin drew a slash on Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, the Rangers went to work on the power play.

Panarin started a nice passing play that led directly to Mika Zibanejad, getting his seventh on the man-advantage. Panarin moved the puck over to Vincent Trocheck, who sent a perfect pass across for a lethal Zibanejad one-timer that beat Copley for the game’s first goal at 8:27.

Zibanejad’s seventh goal gave him 11 points (4-7-11) in the last 10 games. Following a slow start, he’s been on a roll lately. He’s up to seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points on the season.

Laviolette’s Matchup Pays Off

Due to the Rangers’ attention to detail, the Kings found it challenging to get anything going in the second. That included coach Peter Laviolette opting to match up his fourth line against the Kings’ top line.

With Barclay Goodrow back after missing one game due to taking a puck to the face in a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 5, he centered the checking line with Jimmy Vesey and Tyler Pitlick. They more than held their own against the future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar, Quenton Byfield, and Adrian Kempe.

On a counter, thanks to diligent checking, Pitlick drew a slashing minor on Kempe. Although the Rangers didn’t connect on the power play, some hustle from another key secondary player would lead to their second goal of the period.

On a play where the Kings tried to go up the middle of the ice, a hustling Nick Bonino leaped up to knock down a clearing attempt inside the LA zone. He quickly led Vesey in for a one-on-one with Copley. Vesey went to the backhand, going five-hole to beat Copley for the crucial second goal that came with 2:33 left in the period. It was his sixth of the season.

Refs Lose Control

For at least two periods of play, there wasn’t much to complain about. For the most part, the officiating had been good up til that point. The third period saw the refs lose control of the game.

After Adam Fox went off for tripping Carl Grundstrom, the chaos began. A few seconds before the Fox penalty expired, Pierre-Luc Dubois was taken off for interference with Ryan Lindgren, who also went off for embellishment.

Where things started to unravel was when refs Garrett Rank and Ghislain Hebert decided to give a misconduct to Zibanejad at 5:26 after they made the right call by taking Trocheck off for interference with Doughty on a pick play. The misconduct to Zibanejad was unnecessary. It wasn’t the only one, either.

With the Kings still on a power play, Byfield fished for a rebound on former teammate Quick, who had the puck covered up. That led to both getting into it. After Byfield was sent off for slashing, Quick earned a roughing minor to even it up. K’Andre Miller served the minor. It was again another misconduct assessed. This time to Kevin Fiala. Like the previous one on Zibanejad, it felt unnecessary. Neither side was happy with the officiating.

Any time two key players are forced to sit out for 10 minutes in a hotly contested game, it’s counterproductive. There have been plenty of instances where the officiating hasn’t been up to standard this season. There are worse examples. At some point, the league needs to hold their officials accountable.

Following those calls, the Kings finally got back in the game with a power-play goal from Phillip Danault. After some good hustle from Doughty stopped a Bonino shorthanded rush, the Kings transitioned up the ice. Kopitar fed Kempe down low. He then passed between a sliding Braden Schneider for a tap-in from Danault that made it 2-1 with 13:23 remaining in the third period.

Brodzinski Scores on The Power Play

In a period that became heated due to the chaos, Alexis Lafreniere got into it with Kempe during a scrum. With Kempe being assessed an extra minor for roughing, that put the Rangers back on the power play.

Without Zibanejad, who was still serving his misconduct penalty, that allowed Jonny Brodzinski to replace him on the first unit. On what was a beautiful scoring play, Fox and Trocheck combined to get the puck across to Brodzinski for a one-timer past Copley for his first of the season. After he connected, he went flying in the air like an acrobat as the goal was scored. It made for a nice celebration.

It was the first power-play goal of Brodzinski’s NHL career. Ironically enough, it started with the Kings. In his 108th career game, he got his first power-play goal. A well-deserved reward for a hard-working player. In seven games this season, Brodzinski has a goal and five assists for six points while going 19 and 9 on faceoffs.

He’s more than replaced Kaapo Kakko, who never established himself before the lower-body injury he sustained versus the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 27. At this point, the Rangers are better off with Brodzinski, who continues to make the most of his opportunities.

Trocheck Sets Up Cuylle

Following a couple of nice saves from Quick, including reaching back with the glove to rob Grundstrom to cheers from the crowd, the Rangers put it away. It was another play that involved Trocheck.

The do everything center has flourished under Laviolette. On a good play in transition that Brodzinski started, Trocheck centered a backhand feed to set up Will Cuylle for his fifth goal that made it 4-1 with less than five minutes remaining.

For the game, Trocheck had three assists while going 16 for 21 on faceoffs in 25:32 of ice time. He played more due to Zibanejad not being able to return until there were less than five minutes left. Trocheck is up to six goals with 19 assists for 25 points – ranking second on the Rangers in team scoring behind Panarin (16-22-38). His 63.6 faceoff winning percentage leads the league.

An accountable player who called out the team for a lack of commitment in Saturday’s 4-0 loss at Washington, Trocheck has been the Rangers’ most important player. While not Panarin, who’s running away with Team MVP, he does so many things well that it’s hard to fathom where the team would be without him. His consistency has been a key factor in the Rangers’ 19-6-1 record. There’s no better early candidate for the Steven McDonald Award than Trocheck. He’s done it all.

Quick Beats Kings

It had to be extra sweet for Quick to beat the Kings. A two-time Stanley Cup champion, who won the Conn Smythe in 2012, Quick faced off against his former team for the first time.

He made 25 saves on 26 shots to earn the win. That included 14 in a busier third where Quick proved why he’s off to such a good start with the Rangers. He improved to 8-0-1 with a 2.22 goals-against-average (GAA) and .922 save percentage on the season.

Next Up Are the Maple Leafs

Next up for the Rangers are the Maple Leafs. They visit MSG tomorrow night on Dec. 12. It’s the first of three meetings between the Original Six clubs. The Rangers will visit Toronto on Dec. 19. The final regular season meeting is Mar. 2 at Toronto.

It’ll be a good test for the Rangers. Anytime you can face a quality opponent that features Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares, it should be an intriguing matchup. Keep an eye on Leafs’ rookie Matthew Knies. He plays on the top line with Matthews and Marner. Nylander leads the Leafs in scoring with 32 points in a contract year. It should be a good game.