Lafreniere & Domingue Shine In A Tame 4-1 Win Against The Wild

NEW YORK, NY -- Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere continue to thrive together, while Trocheck fits in seamlessly on that line. These three help boost the Rangers to a 4-1 victory backstopped by Louis Domingue. 

LINEUP:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Cuylle-Bonino-Kakko
Vesey-Goodrow-Pitlick

Miller-Trouba
Lindgren-Gustafsson
Jones-Schneider

Domingue

1ST PERIOD:

For the second straight game the New York Rangers got off to a fantastic start. Once again, the second line helped provide the offensive spark, but Erik Gustafsson also played a massive role in the opening goal of the game. 

I said on today's episode of The Blue Crew podcast that if there is one player who can run with an opportunity from the injuries to Filip Chytil and Adam Fox, it is Vincent Trocheck. 

And in fact, it was Trocheck who opened up the scoring in tonight's game affair after a great play from Gustafsson and Lafreniere. This was Trocheck's third goal in his last two games. 

The Rangers were buzzing in the opening period, Gustafsson especially. His feet were moving every time he was out there. Barclay Goodrow decided to mix it up a bit and dropped the gloves with Brandon Duhaime. It was a good old fashioned tilt. 

The Rangers were outshooting Minnesota 14-3 after the first. 

2ND PERIOD:

The second period was much better for Minnesota. There wasn't a ton of back-and-forth action, but the Rangers penalty kill continued to be successful. However, after the Rangers killed off a Trouba tripping call, Duhaime deflected a Brock Faber point shot past Domingue, which tied the game at 1-1. 

New York struggled generating offense in the middle frame, they simply had no jam. The Wild outshot them 15-3 in the middle frame. 

Peter Laviolette wasn't happy with the second, but thought the guys regrouped very well in the third period.

3RD PERIOD:

Artemi Panarin would continue his wizardry in the third period. Trocheck made a great play in the defensive zone, which led to a 2-on-1 rush with Panarin and Lafreniere. Panarin waited patiently before feeding Lafreniere for a backdoor tap-in. 

Lafreniere seems like he's having so much fun playing with Panarin. After the game, I asked Lafreniere how much fun he's having playing hockey right now. He told me "Yea it's fun just coming to the rink everyday, trying to work. We have a good group here. I don't know, just coming to the rink, having a smile on my face, trying to get better."

I obviously had to ask if he was keeping the mustache for the whole year as well. Lafreniere said "haha, I don't know. We'll see, we'll see."

This assist extended Panarin's point streak to 13 games. 

The Rangers wouldn't get their first opportunity on the power play until the final frame. Of all people, it was Blake Wheeler who would convert, getting his first goal as a New York Rangers. Lafreniere picked up the second assist which made it a three-point night for him.

Laviolette felt that Wheeler's first goal was coming, and likes how the lines look with him playing with Kreider and Zibanejad. 

Domingue was outstanding in the third period and looked comfortable the entire night. 

There was a very nice moment in warmups between Domingue and Marc-Andre Fleury.

I asked Domingue about this encounter after the game and what Fleury had said to him. He told me"It's actually something that everybody should probably listen to. He said it's pretty rare that two French guys get to play against each other nowadays in the NHL, so let's give them a good show. I thought he did, and I think I delivered on my part too. It was awesome on his part to come see me."

Domingue certainly put on a show. 

Panarin would add an empty netter at the end of the game, assisted by Trocheck. 

Trocheck and Lafreniere finished the game with three points each. Panarin had a goal and an assist.