NEW YORK – A lot of exciting things are happening at Madison Square Garden these days.
This is especially true for Alexis Lafrenière.
The 22-year-old winger continued his rousing start to the season by scoring two goals, including the tying game, in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets with just 11 seconds left in regulation.
The MSG fans went into hysterics and the press box shook as they celebrated the dramatic goal.
“That was cool,” Lafrenière said with a big smile. “The crowd was really loud tonight. To put it this way: it was fun.”
It was almost as loud when Lafrenière scored New York’s only successful shootout attempt, securing the Rangers’ 11th victory in their first 14 games as they entered a bizarre five-day break in play.
“He seems to be in a good position right now,” head coach Peter Laviolette said, noting that his style of play has moved the No. 13 forward “a few spots” from his normal shootout position.
Lafrenière has now collected seven points in his current four-game point streak and has seven goals for the season.
He has silenced his preseason critics but remains on the right track, deferring credit when asked about his good start.
“I play with really good linemates,” he said. “It’s still very early in the season. We still have a lot of games left, so I’m just trying to stay consistent and keep playing well.”
His coach agrees that his team, which also includes Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, both of the Rangers’ best players of late, plays a big role in Lafrenière’s success. But he is also convinced that it will catapult the former No. 1 in the overall ranking to new heights.
“Any time you can make an impact in a game, it can give you confidence,” Laviolette said. “It’s not just him. I thought Vinny in the middle was incredible. Obviously, Panarin is doing great with his game right now. And when they’re on the ice, good things happen all the time. Sometimes it’s easier.” When you’re in the offensive zone and creating chances, that comes into play. You start to feel it a little bit and that gives you a little bit of confidence.”
The top line goes on the board
While the Rangers (11-2-1) continued their winning streak, their winning streak ended on Sunday.
It had happened the last seven games, but Justin Danforth’s tip-in on a wrist shot from Erik Gudbranson put the Blue Jackets ahead 1-0 with 3:34 left in the first period.
The Rangers’ response was quick, however, and Chris Kreider equalized just 2:20 later.
The key to this was a smooth passing sequence off the rush, with Blake Wheeler passing to Erik Gustafsson, who raced through the middle of the ice before firing a pass to Kreider for a one-timer.
That increased the 32-year-old veteran’s lead to 10 goals in 14 games, but it was only his third goal in a five-on-five situation. The Rangers’ top lineup of Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Wheeler, who replaced Kaapo Kakko on the right wing three games ago, has done an admirable job of limiting goals against, but their offensive production has been lacking.
Mika Zibanejad: The center defends Kaapo Kakko and discusses the process for the top line
They finally got the result they were looking for, thanks in no small part to Gustafsson.
The 31-year-old defenseman appears to be a bargain for the one-year, $825,000 deal he signed over the summer, especially recently as he has taken on more minutes and responsibility long-term with Adam Fox (lower-body injury) on injured reserve. He is up to 10 points (three goals and seven assists) this season and has a four-game point streak.
A hectic second period
The Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the second period with some help from the line, which was their most consistent source of attack.
Panarin, Trocheck and Lafrenière each scored a point on the go-ahead score, with Lafrenière completing a well-placed cross-ice pass from Trocheck.
“From a five-on-five standpoint, they’re probably our most effective line,” Laviolette said. “They are in the offensive zone and are constantly generating chances. They’ve done a really good job of establishing that identity in the offensive zone. That’s how you see the confidence and the growth.”
Panarin, who had previously been the leader of the team, tied Rangers legend Rod Gilbert (1972-73) with the longest point streak in franchise history and started the new season with 14 points. He has a team-best 24 points (eight goals and 16 assists) in that span.
“Bread is amazing,” Lafrenière said.
But the tide would quickly turn in Columbus’s favor. The Jackets scored two goals in a 19-second span to take a 3-2 lead.
The first goal came on a failed clear attempt by the Rangers, with rookie Adam Fantilli capitalizing on a quick wrist strike. This was immediately followed by the go-ahead goal from Sean Kuraly, who fired in a rebound off a shot from Alexandre Texier and beat defenseman Zac Jones to the puck for the finish.
The period ended in controversy when Will Cuylle’s shot was sandwiched between Columbus goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins and the near post. It’s hard to say if the puck crossed the goal line at that point, but it definitely did after Kakko swooped in to beat it.
An official review by Toronto decision-makers found that this occurred after the play had finished, much to the chagrin of the home audience.
Ryan Lindgren was injured while attacking in the third period
As the longer break became apparent, the Rangers took the lead with a furious push into the third period.
“We knew we had a few days off, so we just tried to leave it out there and I think we did that,” Lafrenière said. “We played a really solid third.”
In those 20 minutes, they outscored the Jackets 17-3, with their last attempt ending up in the net.
“In a game that didn’t go our way for most of the evening, we really came out on top in the third period and made sure we tried to get points,” Laviolette said. “They fought really hard and competed.”
The Rangers played most of the final period without defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who left the boards after a hard hit from Kuraly and did not return.
For boarding, Kuraly was assigned a two-minute minor, which Laviolette said should have been a five-minute major.
“During the course of the game something happened to both of those guys and his elbow clearly hit him in the head,” he said.
Laviolette assumed Lindgren’s injury was an upper-body injury, although concerns remain about a possible head injury.
He and many others will benefit from the upcoming respite. The Rangers went all out in the hunt for those two points, led by a career-best 28:02 on ice from Panarin. K’Andre Miller (27:29), Trocheck (26:28), Gustafsson (26:18), Zibanejad (23:10) and Jacob Trouba (22:54) all exceeded 22 minutes.
“We chase the game in the third period and then the power plays and then overtime,” Laviolette said. “We tried to make it happen with a short bench. The strikers play 24, 25, 28 minutes. That’s a lot of minutes. They fought until the end.”
The Blueshirts are off until Saturday’s highly anticipated clash with the rival Devils in New Jersey.
Fox won’t be eligible to return by then, but goaltender Igor Shesterkin appears to be on the right track after missing the last four games with undisclosed soreness. The situation is even bleaker for center Filip Chytil, who has also missed the last four games with an upper-body injury but has not yet returned to the ice.
“Resiliency, that’s a good word to sum it up,” said Jonathan Quick, who finished the game with 26 saves and stopped all three attempts he faced in the shootout. “You look at the way we win. Sometimes it’s power play, sometimes it’s PK, five-on-five, a couple of overtime wins. It takes everyone. This is what you need from your team. They have guys. “We can chip in when we need them and that’s fun right now. But we also have to realize that we still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go.”
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more about his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.