Kings aim to spark offense on road trip as they face Rangers at MSG

The Los Angeles Kings will open their first back-to-back stretch of the season on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, taking on the home-undefeated New York Rangers. The Kings, who sit at 2-5-2, hope to generate more offense after a sluggish start, particularly on the power play, which has produced only one goal in five games.

Coach Peter Laviolette said the team is experimenting with a new power-play configuration, moving left-handed defenseman Erik Gustafsson to the point to create additional one-timer opportunities for Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield. > “It’s just giving it a different look, give it a lefty up top and see if that does anything,” Laviolette explained. > “If it’s successful, it can give confidence to the players on the power play.”

Byfield, who has been practicing with the squad for consecutive days, remains a question mark; the coaching staff is “hopeful” he will suit up, potentially alongside forward Trevor Moore. With Mats Zuccarello sidelined by an upper-body injury, forward Taylor Ward is expected to see increased minutes. > “He’s been a scorer in the minors, he’s come up and he’s contributed at the NHL level,” Laviolette said of Ward. > “It’s an opportunity for him to jump into the lineup.”

The Rangers enter the game 7-5-1 and are unbeaten at home (6-0-0). They recently added goaltender James Reimer after a season-ending injury to starter Igor Shesterkin. Defenseman Adam Fox leads the NHL’s blueliners with 16 assists, ranking second among all skaters.

Los Angeles relies heavily on its netminders; Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg have posted a combined .940 save percentage over the first three games, allowing just six goals total. Kuemper, a former Vezina finalist, will start against a Rangers offense that has scored 29 goals at home, the second-most in the league.

The matchup will test whether the Kings can translate recent goaltending success into more consistent scoring, especially against a Rangers team that has dominated at Madison Square Garden.