Rangers’ Alexis Lafrenière now lives up to high debut expectations

Marc Cannizzaro

NHL

By Marc Cannizzaro

RALEIGH, N.C. — There was a time when Alexis Lafrenière had nowhere to hide.

Today, it is neglected, even underestimated.

The expectations attached to Lafreniere’s No. 1 draft pick in 2020, the Rangers’ first No. 1 pick since the universal draft was launched in 1970, were heavy.

This made Lafreniere something of a lightning rod for Rangers fans who expected greatness to match where he was selected in the draft.

The 91 points produced by Lafrenière during his first three seasons were not enough in the eyes of the fans who expected and wanted more.

But this story is evolving before our eyes.

This change was evident during the regular season, with Lafrenière reaching career highs in goals (28), assists (29) and points (57).

And it was even more evident in these playoffs, as Lafreniere had a massive goal and assist in the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime win over the Hurricanes in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series, Thursday night at PNC Arena.

This comes two days after Lafrenière scored two goals in the Rangers’ 4-3 double-overtime win over the Hurricanes in Game 2 Tuesday at the Garden. That makes him three goals in the last two games.

Lafrenière is currently affecting the Rangers’ biggest games.

He scored a goal at 6:25 of the third period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead on Thursday.

And, after the Canes sent the game into overtime with a six-on-five goal at 18:24 of the third period, Lafrenière assisted on Artemi Panarin’s game-winning goal at 1:43 of overtime for the victory and a 3-0 lead in the series. for the Rangers, who can close out the Canes Saturday night at PNC with a victory.

Lafrenière has three goals and six assists for nine points in seven playoff games.

Even those numbers, along with his career-best regular season production, don’t jump out when you take into account the two teammates he plays with – Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.

Panarin led the Rangers with 49 goals and 120 points in the regular season and Trocheck, who does it all, is arguably the team’s most important two-way player.

But don’t sleep on Lafrenière.

“There’s always a lot of pressure on these young guys to come in and make an impact right away, but the way he worked and the way he believed in himself and built his confidence, it was incredible,” said the Rangers winger. » said Mika Zibanejad. “With him and Tro’, Bread (Panarin) had great chemistry. They played great hockey for us.

“Laffy is a stud. We are happy to have it.

The same goes for Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, under whose leadership Lafrenière had the best season of his career.

“It was a huge goal,” Laviolette said of Lafrenière’s go-ahead goal in the third period. “He didn’t have much time to get the puck into the slot, and it was a hell of a shot. This line was good and obviously had a huge impact on tonight’s game.

Who would have thought a few years ago that Lafrenière would have a huge impact on the Rangers’ Stanley Cup run?

Not based on his production over his first three seasons.

“To talk specifically about Laf, I can’t talk about the past,” Laviolette said. “I can only speak about the last six months. He’s practically set in stone with a few players. This line has been very productive for us and he is part of it.

“He plays with good players. He plays with Artemi, who has proven to be one of the best players in the league, and Troch is a workhorse in the middle who gets an awful lot done.

“But you can’t ignore what Laf does so well with his skill level and the way he’s grown throughout this year. He’s getting more and more confident as the season goes on and the playoffs go on. occur.

Veteran Rangers winger Chris Kreider, who scored the team’s first goal, a majestic shorthanded goal in the second period, sat next to Lafrenière during the team’s postgame media interviews and I asked him what he saw with Lafrenière raising the level of his game in these playoffs.

“Ulf Samuelsson (former Rangers player and assistant coach) told our team a while ago that you don’t raise your level of play in the playoffs, you rely on your habits, and (Lafrenière) incredible habits for a young man,” Kreider said. “The way he shows up at the rink, the way he works on his craft… He wants to improve, he wants to make an impact, he wants to win.

“Incredible player and we are incredibly happy to have him.”