For the second straight day, the Rangers maintained that Alexis Lafreniere was in the right position to score the unfortunate own goal that ended the competitive portion of the first leg and that they would soon get over the moment.
It took just over four minutes into the second game for Lafreniere to prove his teammates and coach Peter Laviolette right, at least when it came to the second goal.
That’s when Lafreniere hit Carter Verhaeghe for the first run of the night, and the hit was probably what could be called interference.
But that was not the case.
The puck instead went to Adam Fox, who passed it backdoor to Vincent Trocheck for a 1-0 lead.
“Just be physical and forecheck hard,” Lafreniere said. “Try to create opportunities at the line.”
At the very least, that burden was lifted from the Rangers’ shoulders early on, and some of the weight of the series was lifted when Barclay Goodrow’s overtime goal gave the Rangers a 2-1 victory and sent the conference finals tied 1-1 in favor of Florida.
For the second straight game on home ice, the second line of Lafreniere, Trocheck and Artemi Panarin was the Rangers’ best in Game 2. While the top six had chances across the board, the bottom six struggled for much of the night.
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So far, this matchup hasn’t been particularly significant, but it’s worth noting that, generally speaking, Trocheck’s lines have seen more Anton Rundell lines than Aleksander Barkov lines.
Unless Paul Maurice changes that equation when Florida gets the matchup advantage in Games 3 and 4, it will give the second line the impetus to produce.
Job done, at least for now: In Game 2, the expected goals percentage with them on the ice was just 95.04.
And, just as importantly, there was no sign that Lafreniere’s confidence was dented after Game 1.
“I don’t think about it that big. [a deal]”Honestly, these things happen,” captain Jacob Trouba said. “They happen to everybody. They happen to defensemen more than forwards. Obviously it’s an accident and it’s a tough one. You just don’t have to worry about it.”
“He’s been a big player for us this year, all through the playoffs. His line has been really good and he was good tonight. I don’t think he’s too worried. He’s always got a smile on his face. Hopefully he’s not worried because he’s a great player for us.”
