For the franchise record tying 53rd time of the campaign, the New York Rangers left the game with two points following a third period surge over the Montreal Canadiens. That surge was led by their leading scorer, Artemi Panarin, as he collected a goal and two assists in the frame, adding to a second period assist for a four point night. The player that grabbed my attention, however, and fed into my ever growing anticipation for the upcoming playoff run, was Alexis Lafrenière.
Laf showcased his talent, and more importantly his confidence in his playmaking abilities, through the first two periods. The game was still deadlocked at one goal a piece heading into the third, as both goaltenders were in the midst of stellar performances. Cayden Primeau’s 41 save effort should not go unnoticed, as he stood tall in front of a raucous Garden crowd for 40+ minutes until the Rangers simply overwhelmed the young Canadiens team. That was the point of the night in which Laf broke through. A beautiful give and go off the rush with Panarin made the score 3-1 in favor of the Rangers, and the young forward was on the scoresheet.
After the Habs got the score back within one off the back of an Alex Newhook breakaway goal, Mika Zibanejad scored his second of the night, this time at even strength, to restore the Rangers two goal lead. With time winding down in the third and the Montreal net empty, Lafrenière streaked down the right wing side behind the defense, received a pass from Panarin and made no mistake burying the ENG to make the score 5-2.
Panarin has greatly helped Laf realize his potential, as their line with Vincent Trocheck has been among the league’s best all season long. Lafrenière’s 27 goals and 29 assists are both career highs, and as he sits at 56 points with 4 games remaining in the season, 30 goals and 60 points are well within reach. He has 11 points in his last 7 games, 5 of which came all in one night on the road in Arizona (although the crowd was practically a home crowd for the Rangers,) including his first career hat trick in the NHL.
It’s clear that Lafrenière is hitting his stride at a critical point of the year, with playoffs looming just shy of two weeks from now. What makes Lafrenière’s production so important, though, is the method through which he produces, which is almost exclusively at even strength. Five on five production has been an achilles heel of the Rangers since their 2022 playoff run to the Eastern Conference Final, where they were stifled by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last four games of the series. Lafrenière continuing his pace of even strength production is absolutely critical if the Rangers are still going to be playing hockey in June.
To think as recently as September, many of us were close to giving up on the young player, the bust label hanging over his head following a lackluster pre-season performance. His breakout season is without a doubt a key factor in the Rangers league leading 53 win season to date.
The Morning Skate 