Indeed, this is the most captivating performance of Alexis Lafreniere’s career, and nothing comes close.This was the number 13 Superstar song Saturday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
This was a first overall that even the Game 4 loss that prevented the Hurricanes from a second round sweep couldn’t camouflage, and it was such a dominant showing. There was no one near him.
Lafreniere competed, danced, played deftly and roared. He went online. He won the 50-50s. He shot the puck. He hit the net. He tipped a Gretzky-esque bank shot from below the goal line onto the goaltender early in the third period, pushing the Rangers to a 3-3 tie. He sparred with Sebastian Ajo. On a night when his linemates Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck had their weakest games of the tournament, Lafreniere was furious.
“I thought he could have scored three or four goals,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of the winger, who has scored four goals in the last three games. “There were things he could do to tighten up, but the expressions, it looked like it was on his stick, and we knew it was coming.
“I hit him on the bench and said, ‘Almost there.’ So it’s great to see him continue to step up and continue to be a difference-maker in the playoffs, and I think he I thought so [in Game 4].I don’t think he was rewarded offensively the way he probably should have been afterwards. [creating so many chances.]”
Of course it’s about now. That’s about the potential deciding factors in the Garden on Monday. It’s about navigating the course from seven wins to his 16 wins needed to lift the Cup. For the Rangers to get a shutout, they will have to be much sharper than they were in Saturday’s 4-3 loss. Basically, all of the leading players need to improve. they know it.
But Lafreniere’s emergence throughout the season, his first season as a top-six winger, and his play in the tournament signal something special is about to happen. Of course, that’s what everyone expected from the moment the Rangers won the 2020 draft lottery with 2.5 percent odds to select the player from Saint-Eustache, Quebec, who had been away from the field. was.
But what a long and strange journey it has been from there to here.
It was the summer of the pandemic. Lafreniere was at home watching a virtual lottery on TV. He was watching the virtual draft on TV at his home. His rookie season, which began in mid-January, consisted of 56 games, mostly with zero to several thousand fans in attendance. He went through a 10-day strength training camp. There were no exhibition games.
Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin were in front of him for depth on the left side. To justify one thing for another, the team stacked the wing and left the No. 1 overall pick at No. 3 on the depth chart. Several attempts were made to change either Lafreniere or Kreider, but none lasted more than a few weeks. Lafreniere was unable to secure the top six times that are guaranteed for first place overall. There was no room in the first power play unit.
Tough love believer David Quinn was off the bench during Lafreniere’s rookie season, and Gerard Gallant was off the bench for the next two seasons. There always seemed to be something off about the relationship between Lafreniere and Gallant. The coach spoke more critically about Lafreniere than any other player. The player didn’t say so, but said Lafreniere looked uncomfortable on his right.
Laviolette replaced Galant and installed Lafrenière in the top six on the right wing, and the player went through a training camp hell. Don’t let anyone tell you that hierarchy doesn’t matter. I wrote what I thought was a pretty critical column at the end of camp, but regardless, Coach Laviolette gave Lafrenière a top-six spot and went out without looking over his shoulder. He also said that he should instruct them to play the game.
No. 13, who scored his first goal of the season against Buffalo on Oct. 12, never looked over his shoulder, scoring 28 goals, including 19 at 5-on-5, while playing on the line against Panarin and Trocheck. Finished with a goal. They even led the NHL in goals scored.
By the way, can I talk about this for a moment? Last summer, general manager Chris Drury was able to sign restricted free agents Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller to deals totaling $6.197 million per year. Each individual would earn more than that per year if a long-term contract were to materialize. Another reason to pay attention now.
The Rangers will have a second chance to advance to the conference finals in Game 5, but they strongly hope they don’t need a third. They will need to give their best effort in the playoffs. They need the best players to be the best.
They will need Lafreniere to be himself.
