Artemi Panarin didn’t take long to score his first goal with the New York Rangers, lighting the lamp in his very first preseason game.
Wednesday night, New York Rangers fans got a tease of what they hope to see a lot of in the regular season. Rangers winger and prized free agent Artemi Panarin scored his first goal as a member of the Blueshirts.
He lit the lamp in New York’s preseason game against the New Jersey Devils. Panarin found the back of the net on the power-play with just over seven minutes gone by in the second period.
Artemi Panarin notches his first on Broadway, on the power-play.
Not sure how anybody can think the Rangers, with these new additions, aren't at least playoff competitive. Depth is an issue, but talent is in the house. #NYR pic.twitter.com/yP7W3RZBlo
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) September 19, 2019
Also securing their first points as Rangers were Jacob Trouba with the primary assist and Kaapo Kakko with the secondary. Kakko controlled the puck near the right faceoff circle where he dished it to Trouba at the point, who then sent it to Panarin. The winger clapped a one-timer by Cory Schneider to cut the Ranger deficit to one.
Panarin came to the Blueshirts on July 1, signing a seven-year, $85.1 million contract. Last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Bread Man put up a career-high, 87 points with 28 goals and 59 assists in 79 games.
After signing with the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent, Panarin won the Calder Trophy for the 2015-16 season. In four seasons, two with Columbus and two with Chicago, Panarin has 116 goals and 204 assists for 320 points in 322 games.
Panarin’s goal is the highlight of the night, but things then took a turn. Later in the second, he went to the locker room. The Rangers announced on Twitter that he left the game with a mild groin strain.
