Jonathan Quick's return home ends in a New York Rangers defeat to the Los Angeles Kings
An emotional return to Los Angeles for Jonathan Quick resulted in a beautiful video tribute for the boyhood Ranger fan, but he was not able to defeat his former club and the Rangers result sluggish results continue to grow. It's now back to back losses with the offense struggling to click. Concern across the fanbase needs to be growing, and the Blueshirts are in need of help.
Los Angeles got the first goal of the game in this one. Trevor Moore was able to force problems after receiving the puck deep from Trevor Lewis. Moore flew around the net and found a spinning shot that hit the pads of Jonathan Quick. Kevin Fiala picked up the puck and put it around Quick to give the home team an early lead in Crypto.com Arena, and now the Rangers were chasing the game in a period they had been shambolic in.
Alexis Lafreniere was shaken up in this second period, as he received quite violent contact after being interfered with near the end boards.It drew a powerplay where the Rangers were able to add to the two shots the team had to this point in the game. It was an inexcusable effort from the Rangers, and this team was struggling to shoot the puck, forget scoring. That was how this game was going.
New York would get on the board eventually as Mika Zibanejad kept the puck in at the blueline. He was able to fire it over to Adam Fox at the right point, and keep the pressure going. Fox fired it back across the grain of the ice to Chris Kreider who couldn't miss with a yawning cage. It was a 1-1 game and the Rangers star talent was keeping them in a game they didn't deserve to be in.
Los Angeles came into the attacking zone with a wrap around attempt that looked pretty innocuous. It seemed to have no threat as Jonathan Quick got over to deny the wrap attempt. Suddenly, Quinton Byfield found a way to get it past the long time Kings backstop, and the Rangers were behind once again. It was a momentum shattering goal as theRangers were starting to get their feet under them late in this one.
In the final few minutes, the Rangers couldn't even get into the offensive zone. They were struggling to break down this stoic Kings defense. A powerplay in the final few moments allowed the Rangers to hook quick, but the Rangers couldn't solve David Rittich in the Kings goal. It would be the shortcoming on the night, as the Blueshirts fall 2-1 in the City of Angeles.