It had been several games since Alexis Lafrenière failed to get his name on the scoresheet, but the Quebecois put things right by scoring two points in New York Rangers’ 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
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The first choice of the 2020 draft showed all his talent at this meeting and especially in the second period. Lafrenière first made himself an accomplice to Kaapo Kakko’s goal before tugging at the ropes himself. The winger raced into enemy territory, taunting Ryan Lomberg and then smacking Sergei Bobrovsky up with a superb backhand shot.
The 21-year-old has not had a point in eight games. In his third season in the National Hockey League, he now has 34 in 72 games, which is a personal high.
Patrick Kane and Filip Chytil also scored for Rangers. The Panthers’ answer came from Lomberg and the two successes of captain Aleksander Barkov.
Jaroslav Halak was the winning goalkeeper with 31 saves from 34 shots.
Two Matthews goals are not enough
In Raleigh, Auston Matthews scored twice in his second straight game, but the Toronto Maple Leafs couldn’t take advantage against the Carolina Hurricanes. The local hero secured a 5:3 win.
Matthews now has 36 goals this season and is attempting 40 for the fifth time in eight seasons. The center player, like most of his teammates, faced Pyotr Kochetkov in great form. The Russian goalkeeper blocked 41 shots, 10 of them shorthanded.
The Hurricanes goaltender was helped by a group effort on offense. Brent Burns, Jordan Staal, Stefan Noesen, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored for Carolina.
The devils in the playoffs
In Newark, the New Jersey Devils secured their place in the playoffs by defeating the Ottawa Senators 5-3.
Mackenzie Blackwood closed the door on the visitors in the third period, allowing Dougie Hamilton and Tomas Tatar to make the difference with two goals. The Devils had previously lost a 3-1 lead when Thomas Chabot and Mark Kastelic found the net.
In this momentous defeat for the Senators, Tim Stützle was the first player on the team to reach the 80-point plateau since Erik Karlsson in 2015-2016.
Carried by two points each from Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, the Devils reached 100 points overall. The team is second in the Metropolitan section, two points behind the Hurricanes.