Rangers cruise past Red Wings thanks to Artemi Panarin's hat trick

DETROIT – At Thursday’s morning skate at Little Caesars Arena, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was asked about the challenge of facing the same team a second time in a matter of a few days.

“I actually like it,’’ he said, as his team was preparing to face the Red Wings for the second time in four days. “You pre-scout the first game, then you actually coach the second game. You know what I mean? Because you look at (video), you're actually pulling from the tape, and not against a previous opponent or what might have happened.’’

Laviolette will have enjoyed Thursday’s game immensely, because everything went just about perfectly. Artemi Panarin had a hat trick, goalie Jonathan Quick (29 saves) had a solid performance in his first game of the season, the power play went 3-for-4, and rookie defenseman Victor Mancini scored the first goal of his NHL career in a complete and thorough 5-2 Rangers victory.

The Rangers' penalty-kill went 4-for-5.

The win kicked off a three-game road trip that continues in Toronto Saturday against the Maple Leafs, before concluding Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Panarin, who also had an assist, became the first player in Rangers history to open a season by scoring multiple points in each of his first four games. His first goal came on the Rangers’ first shot on goal of the game, at 8:30 of the first period, and came 1:05 after Adam Fox (three assists) exited the penalty box after serving his slashing penalty. Fox’s penalty had come with the Rangers already on the penalty kill, and had given Detroit a five-on-three advantage for 42 seconds.

Panarin’s second goal, at 15:39 of the first, was the first power-play goal, and his third goal, at 11:42 of the second period, came in the third. In between his second and third goals were goals by Moritz Seider, which briefly pulled Detroit within 2-1, at 1:27 of the second period, and Vincent Trocheck (a goal and three assists), who tipped in Panarin’s shot from the slot to make it 3-1 at 8:46.

Mancini’s goal, with his mother and plenty of family and friends from his hometown of Saginaw, Mich., in the stands, came at 12:20 of the second period and made it 5-1. He had thought he’d scored his first goal on Saturday in the 6-5 overtime loss to Utah, but that one was disallowed because the referees ruled that Matt Rempe was in the goal crease and was interfering with Utah goalie Connor Ingram.

Mancini spoke to Newsday about that non-goal at Thursday’s morning skate.

“Obviously, you're very excited when you score, and (there’s) a bit of a disappointment to see it taken away,’’ he said. “But I know I'm doing the right things, right? It was a good shot, I put myself in a good spot on the ice, so I'm not worried about when the first one will come. Just keep doing the right things on the ice.’’

This one was a good shot, too, and the replay actually showed that Will Cuylle was in the goal crease. But Cuylle was to the side of goalie Cam Talbot, the one-time Ranger, and the referees must have judged that he didn’t interfere with him. Talbot was pulled from the net after the goal, and replaced by Alex Lyon. Talbot made 14 saves on 19 shots.

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.