Artemi Panarin sends message to Igor Shesterkin and Rangers fans ahead of return to MSG.

You can tell there is still a great deal of emotional turmoil in the heart of veteran National Hockey League forward Artemi Panarin when it comes to his time with the New York Rangers.

Panarin, who now plays for the Los Angeles Kings, will return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since he was traded by the Rangers earlier in the season and on Monday Panarin spoke about his feelings coming back to the city.

Panarin, much to his credit, made no effort to hide the fact that this will be an emotional moment for him and even admitted openly that he will be doing his best to choke back tears in his return tonight. That being said, Panarin and the Kings are in a desperate fight for a playoff spot and he admitted that will be his primary focus during tonight's game.

Panarin of course not only has ties to the city of New York and the Rangers organization but has a close relationship with many of his former teammates on the roster as well. Panarin was asked about his friend, Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, and Panarin joked that he hopes this will be an off night for the Rangers star netminder.

"I hope he has a bad night tonight," said Panarin.

Knowing that his comments likely wouldn't go over very well with the fan base that rooted for him for so many years, Panarin preemptively apologized for his comments about Shesterkin.

"Sorry, New York Rangers fans," said Panarin.

With Panarin so emotional about his return to Madison Square Garden I suspect that fans will recognize that he never wanted to leave in the first place, and I expect that he will get a lot of love from the Rangers faithful tonight.