In the middle of a four-game losing streak, the New York Rangers are telling their players to stay calm, even if they aren’t doing well. This is the case with right winger Alexis Lafreniere. Despite being the Rangers’ top pick, Lafreniere hasn’t scored a point since the last win.
As part of the right side of the second line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin, the team needs Lafreniere to contribute. According to Natural Stat Trick, that trio has played together for 89:16 and has a 60.10 Corsi For percentage, a 50.72 percent expected goals percentage and an equal number of scoring chances.
Goals, which is the Rangers’ most significant need right now, is the only major category where it’s in the red.
“Good sign if you’re getting good chances,”
Lafreniere said ahead of Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas.
“They don’t mean much if you don’t score. You just gotta keep going, and I think eventually, we’ll find our way as a team.”
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Last season, Lafreniere played on the Kid Line with Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil. This season, they all carried more on their shoulders than ever. Lafreniere was put in the top-six role following Vitali Kravtsov’s failed tryout at training camp. However, a stellar playoff run would have made people expect Lafreniere to be there no matter where he ended up.
Also, the Rangers were in a tight spot with their salary cap and had lost several forwards crucial to their success last season. They needed more from Lafreniere and the rest of the team, regardless of what was expected.
The current second line started off strong when Lafreniere was put on it for the first time against the Minnesota Wild in the second game of this season. However, it has slowed down as all three players figure out how their games fit together.
“Just learning to play with different guys, that’s the toughest part,”
Lafreniere said.
“I think that they’re two really good players. Just trying to know a little bit where their favorite spots on the ice, in the (offensive) zone to get pucks and stuff like that. I think trying to work on getting a good forecheck in.”
It’s a matter of patience, which Rangers coach Gerard Gallant is practicing right now. The Rangers are sitting at 3-3-2 heading into weekend games against the Stars and the Arizona Coyotes.
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The Rangers practiced on Friday with Chytil. The team felt optimistic initially about the center’s status, but he had to come off early and would not travel to Dallas and Arizona this weekend.
“Good news, he had a full practice—almost a full practice—but he didn’t feel good at the end,”
Gallant said.
“We’re gonna be safe and he’s not coming on the trip.”
Chytil missed the last two games because of what was thought to be a head injury. In last week’s Sunday game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, he got an elbow from Cole Sillinger and had to leave the ice after only 11 seconds. The Blue Jackets beat the Rangers 5-1. Last November, Chytil missed three games, possibly due to a concussion.
During practice on Friday, the 23-year-old player was on the third line with Barclay Goodrow, Vitali Kravtsov, and Julien Gauthier. Since Chytil will be out for the next two games, it seems likely that Gauthier, who played his first game of the season against the New York Islanders on Wednesday, will get a longer chance to show what he can do. However, Kravtsov could get some minutes.
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