It was a rough few weeks for Rangers wing Alexis Lafreniere.
During the preseason, the 22-year-old had a hard time getting up to speed with the rest of his team. Granted, the Rangers didn’t play much better as the Blueshirts entered the 2023-24 season after going 1-5 in their exhibition games, but Lafreniere had room for improvement.
In four preseason games, Lafreniere had one point (one assist) and was minus-4 on the ice.
But just 3:47 into Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Sabres, Lafreniere took an Artemi Panarin pass and knocked it into the back of the net to start off the Rangers’ season on a high note.
“It’s good to get one early,” Lafreniere said after the game. “Didn’t do much on it, but great play by ‘Bread.’ When you play with guys like ‘Bread’ you’re just trying to get open and he’s going to find you. That’s what I tried to do today.”
New Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette praised Lafreniere’s work in this week’s practice and believed he was bound to break out.
“Those were his best practices of training camp,” he said. “Maybe just getting back and getting settled through training camp. To me he took a step from those practices and brought it into the game.”
Laviolette praised the Panarin-Filip Chytil-Lafreniere line as they out-shot the Buffalo Sabres 10-1. That’s a big reason for the Rangers’ win, a complete 180 from what the Blueshirts offered in the preseason and the coach is noticing.
“The results weren’t there in the exhibition games,” he said. “But you can see it in the practices they were just doing things in a faster pace and a higher pace. It’s nice to be rewarded with a win and take a little bit of confidence from that.”
When asked how he felt about getting his first goal early in the season, Lafreniere downplayed it as another game he can learn from.
“I try to play and not think too much out there,” he said. “I can always be better, obviously. That’s what I’m trying to do every day. I try to practice well and get ready for game one.”
The Rangers will look to start the season 2-0 when they go up against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
