Breadman stood up.
Artemi Panarin was back with Rangers on Wednesday afternoon after a long absence of 2 and a half weeks following a politically motivated article from Russia that accused the star of attacking an 18-year-old Latvian woman in 2011.
Rangers have been without Panarin since February 20. He has lost the last eight games since he applied for a leave of absence from the team after the discredited accusations made against him by his former KHL coach Andrei Nazarov.
The Post spoke to five of Panarin’s former 2011 Vityaz teammates, who said they did not remember the alleged December 11, 2011 incident in Latvia. The KHL issued a statement to ESPN saying there was never a complaint against Panarin.
Panarin and the Rangers vehemently denied the accusations, made shortly after the 29-year-old offered his support to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Nazarov is a well-documented supporter of the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and has repeatedly spoken out against Panarin’s political position.
When he left, Panarin was the team’s top scorer with five goals and 13 assists in 14 games. Since then, Pavel Buchnevich has jumped ahead with seven goals and 13 assists, adding 20 points in 24 games. The Rangers went 4-4 without Panarin.