Things weren’t looking good for the Rangers in the first period.
They only got worse in the second.
And that meant Igor Shesterkin’s Saturday afternoon in net at the Garden was cut short.
After yielding two goals to the Kings in the first, Shesterkin allowed three more in the first five-plus minutes of the middle frame, enough for head coach Peter Laviolette to yank the starter for Jonathan Quick.
The benching comes a little more than a week after Shesterkin agreed to a massive eight-year, $92 million contract with the Rangers.
The final goals came 24 seconds apart when Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault scored at 4:40 and 5:04 of the second.
In all, Shesterkin made 16 saves on 21 shots (76.2 percent) before his matinee ended early in the second period.
It’s the second time in a little over a month that Shesterkin was pulled after allowing five goals early on, as he did the same against the Sabres on Nov. 7.