Rangers beat Kings with shorthanded lineup

It was a crazy night at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, and it’s been a crazy last few days as the Rangers find themselves doing all kinds of wacky things in their pursuit of Chicago star Patrick Kane.

But before recapping all of it, it should be noted that the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2, ending their four-game losing streak. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who was pulled from Saturday’s game, made 26 saves in ending a personal two-game losing streak.

But for the third straight game, the final score was a lot less significant than all of the other stuff that happened.

The Rangers started the game down two men, with two players dressed who were not going to play. They ended it down a third man after K’Andre Miller was ejected from the game late in the first period for spitting at Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. Miller received a major penalty and was ejected. He faces an automatic hearing and a possible suspension.

The Rangers also got a major scare when Mika Zibanejad, their No. 1 center and best all-around player, left the game late in the second period after blocking a shot by Doughty while killing a penalty. Zibanejad got a huge cheer when he stepped onto the ice as the Rangers came out to start the third period, and the crowd chanted “Mika! Mika!’’ when he scored a power-play goal to make it 5-2.

Gerard Gallant was asked what he was thinking when he saw Zibanejad exiting the game in the second period.

“I was sick,’’ he said. “I was as happy as the fans were when he came out of the runway in the third period. But it was . . . a gutsy effort and gutsy win.’’

“Obviously, it’s scary, but it was all good,’’ Zibanejad said. “He [Doughty] hit me pretty hard. He told me last game we played them that he didn’t have that hard of a shot. I guess he worked on it. [But] I think I’ve seen worse happening to Lindy and him coming back.’’

“Lindy’’ is defenseman Ryan Lindgren, whose upper-body injury suffered in Saturday’s 6-3 loss at Washington necessitated the call-up of forward Ryan Carpenter before the game.

Carpenter was called up from AHL Hartford because NHL rules prohibit cap-compliant teams from playing with fewer than 18 skaters. So even as the team sent Jake Leschyshyn to Hartford to try to open space under the $82.5 million salary cap to fit one-quarter of Kane’s $10.5 million cap hit, they were forced to call up Carpenter.

Carpenter will go back to Hartford when the team acquires Kane, but because a team cannot send an injured player to the minor leagues, the Rangers kept him on the bench the entire game to avoid the possibility of his getting injured. Defenseman Braden Schneider, who was assigned to Hartford after Sunday’s game as part of the cap gymnastics necessary to make the trade happen Wednesday, also didn’t take a shift.

Miller was given a match penalty with 3:23 remaining in the first period with the Rangers leading 1-0 on a goal by Alexis Lafreniere. That forced Gallant’s team to kill a five-minute major penalty with only four defensemen available.

They killed it and, 25 seconds later, Vincent Trocheck scored the first of his two goals to make it 2-0 at 2:02. One minute, 35 seconds later, Trocheck beat Jonathan Quick to make it 3-0.

The Kings got within 3-2 on a goal by Matt Roy at 1:27 of the third, but 44 seconds later, Artemi Panarin scored on his own rebound to make it 4-2.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.