Alexis Lafreniere may have delivered the breakout moment Rangers have been waiting for

Perhaps this was the moment everyone points to when analyzing Alexis Lafreniere.

Because while Filip Chytil has been on a roll on the night in recent weeks and Kaapo Kakko has been a significant force in the offensive zone, Lafreniere looked like the boy who was still lagging behind.

Until overtime at the Garden on Monday against the Flames, when No. 13 hit home a blocked shot at 1:37 to slam the Rangers to a 5-4 win in a hugely entertaining match of physicality, fighting and plenty of Krass result in errors and dizzying swing swings as both teams come off an extended bye week and All-Star layoffs.

Three kids… each with a capital K, no less, on a night that saw Chytil score two more to escalate his run to nine goals in the last 12 games.

What if Chytil, Kakko, and Lafreniere all arrive around the same time? Well, it’s going to cost the front office quite a bit of money, that’s for sure. But it will also set up the Rangers in both the short and long term.

No matter how much hockey has changed over the decades, one rule applies. This is for players with the puck to keep their heads up. That rule was enforced again by Jacob Trouba, who delivered some hellish shoulder-to-shoulder smashes on open ice, first against Dillon Dube at 1:57 of the second period and next against Nazem Kadri at 19:04 of the second third session.

Alexis Lafreniere celebrates after scoring the winning goal in extra time. Getty Images

The blows were hard enough that Andreas Athanasiou felt them halfway across the continent. They were so harsh that the entire Pittsburgh media contingent asked Sidney Crosby what he thought of the controls and whether the Rangers captain should be banned for life.

Both punches were textbook. Both times, Trouba was forced to drop the gloves when attacked after the check. First it was Chris Tanev who received an extra two for roughing but escaped an instigator penalty. Second, it was Dube who was slammed for his troubles before being tagged the instigator and accompanying a 10-minute misconduct.

Trouba set the tone. The blue shirts ran with it.

This was Rangers’ first game in 10 days and Calgary’s first in nine. It looked like. Every team has committed more than their fair share of glitches. Ben Harpur, for example, gave away the puck twice from his own end in about five seconds and was charged with one on the official sheet.

Alexis Lafreniere checks Elias Lindholm in the second half. Getty Images Alexis LaFreniere scores the winning goal for Rangers on Monday. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

This was reminiscent of a game in Newark a few seasons ago when Nick Holden spat it out about five times on his first shift and wasn’t credited with a single giveaway for that period. However, by all means use giveaways and/or takeaways to create a statistical model to create a “score” for each player and expect it to be taken seriously. It’s quite a joke.

Rangers actually bulked up for this one, dressing both Will Cuylle and Sammy Blais in the fourth row. Blais, returning from conditioning at Hartford, where he scored four goals in five games, impressed with a couple of big strikes. He was involved.

Indeed, it was his high hit – also shoulder to shoulder – that sparked a melee late in the first period. Referee Kelly Sutherland originally signaled a late penalty to Blais. When play was stopped at 4:16 p.m. of the first game, Calgary defender Nikita Zadorov attacked at number 91. Cuylle got into a fight with MacKenzie Weegar.

When the beatings stopped, Sutherland repeated his call to Blais, pointing out that the referee had originally called for a large penalty. But after the review, Blais was exonerated. There was no punishment against him, only Weegar and Cuylle for fighting and Lucic for being rough. Zadorov got off scot-free.

It was Cuylle’s second fight in his first three NHL games, starting Friday against Vegas resident Keenan Kolesar. He’s the first Ranger since Dylan McIlrath to pull off this feat. He’s likely to become just as popular as The Undertaker, who was briefly covered by head coach Alain Vigneault in 2015-16.

Blais was an energetic force at 8:47 and Cuylle played his role on hold at 7:46, but it’s hard to imagine either of them staying at the club unless Rangers A) continue to carry a 23-max squad than expected; or B) suspend Julien Gauthier’s waivers; or C) sooner or later having a deal that would send Vitali Kravtsov out of town.

Jacob Trouba and Dillon Dube battle during the Rangers’ win over the Flames on February 6th. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Rangers have been looking for a formidable fourth line for years. If Blais and Cuylle can make it work and the hierarchy can cap that, then adding muscle to the fourth unit would no longer be a priority for GM Chris Drury, who leads through the March 3 close.

Of course, this was a game. Everyone will need to see more of this before making any decisions. It was a similar game for Lafreniere.

Everyone who has been waiting for him for three years needs to see more of it. Maybe they shouldn’t bet against it.

Source: nypost.com