First Period:
- Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) Assists: Alexis Lafreniere (2)
Second Period:
- Alexis Lafreniere (1) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (3), Vladislav Gavrikov (2)
- Bo Horvat (2) (Power Play) Assists: Matias Maccelli (1), Brayden Schenn (2)
- Calum Ritchie (1) Assists: Brayden Schenn (3)
- Oliver Bjorkstrand (2) (Power Play) Assists: Gabe Perreault (2), Will Cuylle (3)
Third Period:
- Alexis Lafreniere (2) Assists: J.T. Miller (1), Mika Zibanejad (4)
- Alexis Lafreniere (3) Assists: Adam Fox (5), Mika Zibanejad (5)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- Another really impressive performance from the Rangers and an all around game that looks almost nothing like they did last season.
- It’s been the same thing during this four game winning streak but the commitment to battle, the commitment to engage, be physical, go for 50-50 pucks, block shots, it’s a team that has totally bought in to the style and system they want to play.
- For the Rangers to have success this season they needed a big start, especially at home, and they’ve been able to accomplish that and to do it with contributions from everywhere.
- Oliver Bjorkstrand has been on the fourth line the past two games but he scored the first goal off a nifty feed from Alexis Lafreniere and he still has a spot on the second PP and Gabe Perreault made a terrific pass to find him for the go-ahead goal. He’s a shooter and I imagine that he’s going to get back to the second line at some point, but for now the Rangers have extra depth with a six-time 20-goal scorer on the fourth line.
- Yes, two of his goals came with the net empty but Alexis Lafreniere was all over the place tonight and has five points in the last two games. He just continues to look like a different player and has picked up where he left off last season. His line with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault was terrific.
- I was pleasantly surprised to see the Rangers call up Cole Beaudoin instead of trying to put Jaro Chmelar or Oliver Bjorkstand at center or call up someone like Justin Dowling or Juuso Parssinen. Beudoin had five points over the weekend in his two-game AHL debut and the Rangers are showing that they aren’t afraid to give a rookie a chance. They haven’t said yet how long Joe Veleno will be out or if Beaudoin is just getting a couple of games to get a taste of the NHL before going back to Hartford, but Beaudoin’s game is probably already close to being 4th line ready in the NHL. He played more than Chmelar or Bjorkstrand and this could be a big opportunity for him.
- 4-1 to start the year, 3-0 at home is about as good as the Ranger could have asked for to start the season, especially since it was 5 games in 8 nights. Now the Rangers have a couple of days before Friday against the Caps.