Artemi Panarin will get his first chance to face his former team when the New York Rangers host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.

In a cost-cutting move, Panarin was traded to Los Angeles from New York on Feb. 4 in exchange for forward prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The Kings immediately signed the 34-year-old forward to a two-year, $22 million contract extension through the 2027-28 season.

Panarin spent 6 1/2 seasons with the Rangers, leading them in points in each of his first six full seasons and ranking ninth in points (607) and eighth in assists (402) on the franchise’s all-time list.

He owns the franchise record for highest points-per-game average (1.26).

Panarin has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 10 games with the Kings so far.

He had his first three-point game for Los Angeles on Saturday on the road against the New Jersey Devils, tallying a goal and two assists. But the Kings lost 6-4 to prevent them from winning two in a row for the first time since a three-game winning streak Jan. 20-27.

Still, the Kings entered Sunday just one point out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

“Every guy in that room knows where we want to go and we’ve got to push and give ourselves a win (on Monday),” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said.

Kings forward Anze Kopitar scored two goals against New Jersey to become the team’s all-time leading point scorer (1,308), surpassing Marcel Dionne, who held the record for 45 years. It was the future Hall of Famer’s first multi-goal effort of the season.

“We’re right in the thick of things right now, so there’s not a whole lot of time to think about that,” Kopitar said of the record.

The Kings beat the Rangers 4-3 in Los Angeles on Jan. 20 and they’ll be trying to finish 4-0 against the New York teams this season.

The Rangers won their season-high fourth game in a row on Saturday, getting 46 saves from Igor Shesterkin and a goal and two assists from former Los Angeles defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in a 4-2 win at the Minnesota Wild.

“We were playing a north-south game. We were playing a straight-ahead game,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think when we play fast, we are fast.”

The Rangers, who were shut out in three of their first five games this season, have scored at least four goals in every game during the winning streak, but still sit 25th in the league at 2.82 goals per game.

“For a lot of the first half of the year, we couldn’t see the puck go in the net,” New York captain J.T. Miller said. “Right now, we’re executing on a lot of the plays. Obviously, we’ve got some guys stepping up and playing really well also. Just high execution. Finally getting those pucks to go in the net that we were missing in the first half of the year.”

The Rangers will play 11 of their next 13 games at home before finishing the season on a three-game road trip.

Not enough time to get back in the playoff race, but enough to set a positive tone for next season.

“There’s a good feeling around here right now,” Miller said. “It’s been a hard year but feels good to win some games and try to string some together.”

–Field Level Media

Six-time Miami Open champion Novak Djokovic withdrew from this year’s tournament due to a right shoulder ailment, the event announced Sunday.

Djokovic reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open this past week at Indian Wells, Calif., before falling to Jack Draper in a third-set tie-breaker on Wednesday.

The Serbia native reached the finals at Miami last year before losing 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic.

The 38-year old won the Miami Open title in five times between 2011 and 2016, defeating Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on two occasions apiece.

Djokovic is 7-2 in 2016 and won his 101th ATP title in November 2025 at Athens.

The Miami Open begins Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

The struggling Detroit Red Wings are hoping a return home and a visit by the floundering Calgary Flames on Monday will be just the tonic needed to turn their fortunes.

The Red Wings hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card position, but after suffering a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday have lost five of their past six games (1-3-2) to put their perch in jeopardy.

“We’re so excited to get home to Detroit … and play in front of our fans,” said forward Lucas Raymond, who leads the Red Wings with 45 assists and is tied for the lead in points with 66. “We’ve had some stretches down the year where we’ve been pushing for a playoff spot and that just elevates the crowd.”

Detroit, which is pushing to avoid missing the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season, is in a tight battle.

The Red Wings are tied with the Boston Bruins, who hold the first wild-card spot but have played one fewer game. Detroit is also two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for third spot in the Atlantic Division, but only one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are just outside the wild-card spots.

The Red Wings have struggled without captain Dylan Larkin and fellow center Andrew Copp due to injuries, but did receive a boost with forward David Perron returning from injury against the Stars.

The Dallas clash ended earning the Red Wings a point in the standings, but was a wasted opportunity after they erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, but could not get a winning goal.

“A good battle back. Lots going on recently, obviously, but we found a way. We kept pushing,” Perron said. “It was nice to get rewarded as a group to have one point there.”

The Flames arrive after suffering a 3-2 loss of their own at the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Calgary, which is ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks in the overall standings and in the throes of a rebuild, trailed 3-0 before the end of the first period, but controlled play the rest of the way in a comeback that fell short.

Despite the end result, the Flames likely deserved a better fate, especially after firing 17 shots on net in the final period.

“When we made a mistake, they capitalized on it,” coach Ryan Huska said. “We also hit two crossbars and had a grade-A chance in front of the net. We progressively got better as the night went on.”

In keeping with a recurring theme, the Flames, who are the league’s lowest-scoring team, could not find the equalizer, which left them with only five wins in their last 17 games (5-10-2).

Despite their offensive struggles — the Flames have gone four games without a power-play goal, and only two man-advantage markers in 10 outings — they continue to battle in close games.

The message as they prepare for the final outing of a five-game road trip is to ignore the standings and keep battling for wins.

“There’s no quit from anyone here,” said captain Mikael Backlund, who moved ahead of Kent Nilsson with his 230th career goal and into fifth spot on the franchise’s all-time list. “All the guys are fighting hard. It doesn’t matter the score. We keep trying until the end. So I’m really proud of the guys.”

–Field Level Media