BUFFALO — They’d been together for about 10 minutes but nevertheless they looked like Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert out there.
Tic. Alexis Lafreniere.
Tac. Filip Chytil.
Toe. Artemi Panarin.
“Instincts, probably,” Panarin said of the unit that accounted for two goals in the Blueshirts’ convincing 5-1 victory over the Sabres here on Thursday that kicked off the Peter Laviolette Era in style. “We had a few words before the game, but because I am not English I can’t speak so much about the game except, ‘Give me pass.’ ”
Actually it was Panarin who gave Lafreniere a cross-ice feed from the right corner that Lafreniere put away at the left post after driving to the net at 3:47 of the first period for a 1-0 lead after Chytil and Adam Fox had created a turnover in the neutral zone.
It was, of course, a monumental goal for Lafreniere, who struggled so badly through the first two-plus weeks of training camp. But the 22-year-and-one-day-old did not delve all that deeply into the meaning of the moment.
“It was good to get one early but I’m just trying to play and not think too much out there,” said the man who was awarded the Broadway Hat. “I’m just trying to go out and have fun.”
Lafreniere was effective both with and without the puck. He was involved throughout his 15:29 of ice time that included 2:28 of power-play work.
“That’s good for everyone,” Panarin said of his right wing. “It’s hockey. We have to work for each other.”
Laviolette had an extended chat with Lafreniere on the ice at the morning skate at which the coach made it a point to have at least a brief one-on-one conversation with every member of the squad.
“He had a couple of really good practices this week, they were his best practices at training camp,” the head coach said. “Maybe getting settled and working through camp, to me he took a step from those practices and brought it into the game.
“I thought the line was excellent. It was good to get Fil back, he’s trying to get up to speed after missing some time. And Artemi was excellent with his game.”
This was a night on which Laviolette’s game plan and system was on display in technicolor. I have been watching Rangers teams since Phil Watson was behind the bench and I have never seen even one of them playing a 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap and lock.
But that’s how the team played this one. They were disciplined and committed. They did their own jobs and allowed the structure to protect them. Igor Shesterkin made a couple of Grade A stops at important times but the goaltender was not called upon to make second and third saves. Generally it was one and done.
The penalty-kill unit, called “courageous” by Laviolette, sacrificed their bodies, throwing themselves in front of shots in snuffing all three Buffalo power plays. Jacob Trouba, who scored the final goal into an empty net, blocked eight shots, Nick Bonino, four. And the PK got on the board with Chris Kreider converting a Mika Zibanejad feed midway through the third for a 4-1 lead.
This was a victory of structure, enthusiasm and personnel. The Rangers played with confidence. They attacked even when standing their ground through the middle of the ice. Kreider also had scored a power-play goal by deflecting a Fox shot. One game, two goals for No. 20.
In addition to the assist on Lafreniere’s goal, Panarin got one of his own by wiring a drive from the high slot that beat Devon Levi for a 3-0 lead at 12:49 of the third. This served as a reminder that training camp performances are as relevant to the regular season as regular-season baseball is to the playoffs.
“Everyone was excited and skated very well,” said Panarin. “When you skate very well, you have more room. When you have room you have more time to think.”
Panarin said there was excitement among his unit to play because it was the season opener and because they were looking forward to playing together as a line. Practice time had been severely limited when Chytil went down for two weeks with an unidentified upper-body injury, whose aftereffects were the likely reason No. 72 did not take any faceoffs.
“Excited for both,” said No. 10. “The season opener, of course, after waiting all summer and then … I don’t want to say anything too much about our line.
“It was [our] first game, maybe it was because Buffalo was not that good. I hope we can do that against every team.”
Here, though, is what the numbers provided by Natural Stat Trick say. They say that Lafreniere-Chytil-Panarin had a 14-4 edge in shot attempts (77.78 percent), a 10-1 edge in shots (90.91), a 2-0 advantage in goals and an overwhelming 91.32 xGF percentage in their 10:39 of five-on-five play.
They say Hadfield-Ratelle-Gilbert.
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