Quebec’s Alexis Lafrenière is one of the youngsters the New York Rangers are counting on and passed a test with flying colors on Monday.
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The first-time pick in the 2020 Entry Draft broke the tie in the third period in a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues.
His two points of the evening helped propel his team up the ladder and end a four-game losing streak without scoring.
Former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Océanic de Rimouski has a dozen total points in 27 games this season and continues to take lessons from the pros. Even if nothing is perfect, he finds mutual successes positive.
“If our forecheck is going well and we’re playing in opposition territory, we’re creating turnovers and scoring opportunities,” Lafreniere told NHL.com. If we work hard, we can score goals.”
Head coach Gerard Gallant also had a lucky hand, reuniting the winger with Kaapo Kakko and Mika Zibanejad in the same line. The move could give affected skaters more confidence as production ramps up.
“We still have a young formation with a lot of talent,” estimates K’Andre Miller, as the newspaper “New York Post” reports. I think it’s just a matter of time [avant qu’ils explosent en attaque] and you have to be good at it. There are many expectations of us, but the most important thing is to do our best and do everything we can to help the club win.”
Do not give up
As their 12-10-5 record shows, the Blueshirts have had their ups and downs since the campaign began. Some players could have had higher stats, but don’t throw in the towel and be inspired by good shots made at the right time.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a youngster or a veteran, it doesn’t matter when the puck goes into the net after shots on the post and missed chances,” commented striker Chris Kreider. We have goals for ourselves that are higher than anyone else’s outside of the locker room or in the organization. This group has big goals and we’re putting as much pressure on ourselves as possible. So it’s important to see the pucks land in the opponent’s cage and earn the two points on the table while taking the aspects of the game that worked well into the next game.
The Rangers visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.