- Alexis Lafreniere scored twice in the first period to lead the Rangers past the Lightning 4-1
- New York is 5-0-0 at home for the first time since 1990-91 and Dylan Garand made 25 saves
- Read below for the Kartye assists, the Garand chants and Jon Cooper’s blunt review
Alexis Lafreniere is not cooling off. He scored twice in the first period Tuesday night as the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.
The pair of goals stretched his streak to a career-best four straight games and put him at seven goals during that run. The NHL had the reaction right after the second one:
Tye Kartye set up both. He opened the scoring 62 seconds in by stripping the puck from Victor Hedman on the forecheck and getting a pass through to Lafreniere in the slot. Kartye was asked about that first play afterward.
“I knew they were both there so I kind of just tried to get it there,” Kartye said. “Luckily, it went through J.T. and right to ‘Laf,’ but good job being both on the inside.”
The second came at 12:47, when Kartye flipped a stretch pass out of the defensive zone and Lafreniere beat Hedman and Anthony Cirelli to it for a breakaway finish. He has also extended his point streak to six games, with seven goals and three assists in that stretch.
Will Cuylle tipped in a shot late in the second period for a 3-1 lead. Mika Zibanejad sealed it with a short-handed empty-netter, his 14th with the Rangers, which ties Don Maloney for third in franchise history. Zemgus Girgensons scored the only Tampa Bay goal.
The win moves New York to 5-0-0 at home, all in regulation. That is the best home start since the 1990-91 team opened 8-0-0. For comparison, the Rangers won nine regulation games at the Garden all of last season, and their fifth didn’t arrive until Dec. 20.
Garand stopped 25 shots in his second start since Igor Shesterkin went down for the season and the first since a 6-2 win over Vancouver, and the crowd chanted his first name by the end. He admitted it felt strange hearing it, since that chant usually belongs to Shesterkin.
“It was a little weird in that sense, but it felt so good,” Garand said. Coach Mike Sullivan was asked about the chants too and had nothing but praise for his goalie:
Tampa Bay came in on a four-game winning streak and left frustrated. Jon Cooper called his team’s effort “dreadful” and said he couldn’t believe the execution. The Lightning have now lost both trips to MSG this season, 5-1 on Oct. 1 and 4-1 Tuesday, and have been outscored 9-2.
