When the Rangers return to Madison Square Garden to host the Kings later tonight, it’ll be with a new goalie in the net.

James Reimer will get his first start as a Ranger. Following a pro tryout in which he pitched a shutout by making 35 saves for the Hartford Wolf Pack in a 2-0 shutout against the Providence Bruins last Friday night, the Rangers signed Reimer for one year, $850,000 yesterday.

When he debuts against the Kings, he’ll wear number 47. As I previously noted, it’ll officially be Reimer’s ninth NHL team. The Rangers are his 10th stop due to having two different stints in San Jose.

We’ll see if he can provide them with a capable backup who can be trusted. They refused to play journeyman Spencer Martin before sending him down to Hartford.

With Reimer all set for tonight’s game, that’ll provide a much needed break for Dylan Garand. After playing extremely well early on as the Rangers’ new number one goalie, he’s cooled off considerably. Garand has allowed 10 goals on 47 shots over the last two games, which translates to a 5.04 goals-against-average and .787 save percentage.

It hasn’t all been his fault. In each loss on the road at Toronto and Ottawa, the Rangers didn’t play well in front of him. They made a lot more mistakes defensively and with puck management. Key areas that haven’t been issues on home ice, where they’ll bring a 6-0-0 record into Monday’s game against the Kings.

On the road, they’ve been a mess. In three of the five losses away from MSG, they’ve given up five goals or more. That included allowing seven to the Devils on Oct. 15, five to the Maple Leafs on Oct. 22, and seven to the Senators on Oct. 24. When they finally have a four-game Western swing next month, they’ll have to figure it out.

With only two games on this week’s schedule, the Rangers get to play at home where they’ve been more comfortable. So far, they’ve outscored opponents 29-10. Aside from handling the disappointing Ducks last week and the lowly Canucks two weeks ago, they’ve beaten the Lightning twice, the Mammoth, and the Islanders at the Garden.

After the Kings visit, the competition picks up when the Oilers come to town this Sunday to start November. If they beat the Kings, they’ll be a perfect 7-0 entering that showdown against the otherworldly Connor McDavid, who’s putting up video game numbers thus far by leading the league with 33 points in 11 games. That’s 10 more than teammate Leon Draisaitl. Evan Bouchard ranks first among NHL defensemen with 21 points.

For now, they can focus on stopping former Ranger Artemi Panarin, who’s still producing at a point-per-game clip on the low scoring Kings. Panarin leads LA with nine points (3-6-9) in nine games. Following a slow start to the season, he had five points in road wins over the Capitals and Islanders. The Bread Man was shut down by the Devils over the weekend in a 3-1 loss this past Saturday.

The Kings don’t have much around him. However, Adrian Kempe remains an overlooked star. A two-time 30-goal scorer the past two seasons, his eight points rank second behind Panarin. An exceptional skater with a good release, Kempe can score and set up teammates.

Former Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette returns to MSG for the first time as the Kings bench boss. He indicated that Mats Zuccarello is out with an injury. However, they’re hoping Quinton Byfield can return to the lineup.

Darcy Kuemper is expected to make the start for the Kings. The veteran netminder is 2-3-1 with a 3.55 GAA and .890 save percentage.

Dorofeyev to Remain On Third Line

As expected, Pavel Dorofeyev will remain on the third line for the start of tonight’s game.

After struggling to establish anything with J.T. Miller or Tye Kartye against the Senators, he was moved down to play with Noah Laba and Will Cuylle. With the Rangers trailing Ottawa 5-3, Dorofeyev buried a one-timer on a nice feed from Cuylle to score his third goal.

Head coach Mike Sullivan wants to see what it looks like. He’s hoping that Dorofeyev can improve in some key areas while not overthinking too much.

“Simplify your game. Keep shooting. Take some of the thinking out of it, but maybe place the focus off of that element of your game, and just staying in the moment and playing the right way — winning puck battles, being strong on the wall, making sure you’re reloading in the offensive zone when the puck changes sides, knowing what your responsibilities are off a lost face-off, things of that nature.’ And if he plays the game the right way, I think the byproduct will be he’ll score goals.”

The Rangers certainly need more consistency from Dorofeyev, whose three goals are underwhelming considering some of the scoring chances he’s had. We’ll see if he can bring more to the table.