PITTSBURGH — The first Rangers goal of the 2025-26 season belonged to Alexis Lafrenière on Thursday night in Buffalo.
It was a greasy game-opening goal that came on a rebound of an Artemi Panarin shot just under 12 minutes into the first period, when Lafrenière battled through some traffic to tuck the puck past Sabres goalie Alex Lyon.
“It was good to get one early in the game,” Lafrenière said after the 4-0 victory. “Good play. Saw Bread (Panarin) going up ice and just trying to get in front. I got a good bounce, so it was good to get one.”
The goal was No. 93 in Lafrenière’s career, which tied him with Alex Kovalev for fourth most by a Ranger before age 24. In the 85 regular-season games in which Lafrenière has scored, the Rangers own a 69-11-5 record.
The line of Panarin, Lafrenière and Vincent Trocheck had already put together a much stronger performance in Game 2 than in Game 1, but Trocheck left the contest with an upper-body injury in the second period and wasn’t able to return.
If Trocheck needs to miss time, one of either Juuso Parssinen or Jonny Brodzinski will be inserted into the lineup. Both are capable of playing center, but head coach Mike Sullivan might prefer to move Mika Zibanejad back to the middle because it’s a top-six spot that needs to be filled.
Parssinen, who signed a two-year deal with the Rangers this past offseason, might get the nod first, but Brodzinski would give Sullivan more flexibility as someone who can also play on the wing.
It’ll most likely depend on how Sullivan wants to rearrange his top six without Trocheck.
The Rangers’ penalty kill is 5-for-5 to start the season, including a 4-for-4 showing in Buffalo. In away games since 2023-24, the Blueshirts own the third-best penalty kill percentage in the NHL at 82.1.
Saturday’s contest against the Penguins marks the first of the Rangers’ 12 back-to-back sets this season.
Since his first game back with the Rangers on Feb. 1, 2025, J.T. Miller has a team-leading 13 multipoint games, tied for the second most in the NHL over that span.
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