[ad_1]
BUFFALO, NY – No. 1 Draft Pick Alexis Lafreniere scored his first career goal at 2:47 of overtime to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday night.
Artemi Panarin netted a goal and established Ryan Strome’s first goal, and the Rangers slipped 0-3-1 to win for the second time this season.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 37 shots for his first win since taking up the starting duties after Henrik Lunqvist left in the offseason.
Sam Reinhart scored a goal and an assist and Jack Eichel also scored for Buffalo who fell to 3-3-2. Linus Ullmark finished with 22 saves in a game where the Sabers were beaten 24-9 in two periods and 39-25 in aggregate.
Lafreniere, the playmaker’s rookie striker outside of Quebec, had to wait four months before being selected first in the draft, which was delayed until October due to the coronavirus pandemic. And he had to wait for his seventh career game to score his first point.
The goal came after Eichel returned the puck to his own zone. Colin Blackwell recovered the loose puck and moved up the right side before passing a center pass to Lafreniere, who once made the puck inside the nearest post.
The Rangers ultimately won a one-goal game after posting a 0-3-1 record in their last four outings.
New York coach David Quinn kept his optimism in the NHL’s youngest roster by noting that the Rangers’ last four outings were one-goal losses.
“I just like the pace we played, the way we competed and a lot of times we were the better team,” Quinn said before the game. “It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win, but we’re certainly encouraged by the progress of our young players. … I have no doubt that we will be fine.
The Sabers rallied to earn a point in a game where they overcame two one-goal deficits.
The game turned in the Sabers’ favor in the third period, starting with Ullmark kick-out of his right pad to stop Lafreniere, who was installed alone at the left post in the first minute.
Buffalo then equalized Reinhart’s power-play goal 20 seconds after Ryan Lindgren was penalized for cross-checking Kyle Okposo in the backboards of the Rangers’ zone. Reinhart was left alone at the left post where he redirected in Victor Olofsson’s pass from the right circle.
Okposo briefly walked up the tunnel before returning to the bench after appearing to have injured his left ankle.
Ullmark was even sharper, stopping six shots on a Rangers power play midway through the third period as Jeff Skinner was out on game delay.
[ad_2]
Source link