It was about 30 seconds after Matt Rempe had sent the Garden into euphoria by scoring the first goal of the playoffs when Washington's Vincent Iorio attempted to carry the puck out of the Caps' end up the right side. But that's when the unfortunate Iorio ran into Alexis Lafreniere, who was on a puck-hunting expedition. Lafreniere buried the defenseman into the wall, picked up the loose puck while his foe lay prone and sent the puck to Vincent Trocheck who gave it to Artemi Panarin, who then beat Charlie Lindgren from the right dot for a 2-0 lead at 4:50 of the second. It was the most notable hit of Lafreniere's five that matched Jacob Trouba for the club lead in that category. It was a reminder
Alexis Lafreniere punctuated a breakout regular season with a goal in the New York Rangers' 82nd game of 2023-24, a 4-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on April 15 that wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy in this campaign in which the club set franchise marks with 55 wins and 114 points. Finally looking like the future, the Rangers hope Lafreniere can continue his climb by evoking the team's past this spring. It's been 30 years since another up-and-coming Blueshirts winger, like Lafreniere brimming with talent and determination in his early 20s, delivered an unforgettable – and at the time, largely unexpected – playoff performance to help power the Rangers to a rare Stanley Cup.
Teammates and other people close to the former No. 1 overall pick shine light on all the factors that have helped him make a major jump in 2023-24.
No | Player | P |
---|---|---|
22 | C | |
72 | C | |
50 | LW | |
70 | G | |
84 | C | |
23 | D | |
21 | C | |
56 | D | |
6 | D | |
24 | RW | |
20 | LW | |
13 | LW | |
55 | D | |
14 | D | |
79 | D | |
10 | LW | |
32 | G | |
73 | C | |
96 | C | |
5 | D | |
4 | D | |
31 | G | |
38 | LW | |
16 | C | |
8 | D | |
26 | LW | |
91 | C | |
17 | RW | |
93 | C |