Alexis Lafrenière’s trio had their say in the New York Rangers’ 5-1 victory over the Tampa Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.
Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Lafrenière combined for a total of nine points. The first city scored a hat trick, while the second amassed a goal and three assists. The Quebecer scored two assists on his team’s first two goals in the first period.
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Chris Kreider also flashed the red light for the Rangers.
On the Lightning side, some star players had an extremely difficult match. Indeed, defender Victor Hedman finished the game with a differential of -3, while goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy dropped the flag five times on 21 shots.
Nikita Kucherov is the only Bolts skater to have shaken the ropes.
With the loss, the Lightning are 17-15-5, and one point out of a playoff spot. The Rangers (25-9-1) sit first in the National Hockey League with 51 points since the start of the campaign.
Jon Cooper’s men will face the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
Pastrnak in form against the Devils
Even though they were down 2-0, the Boston Bruins came back to win 5-2 against the New Jersey Devils.
In the victory, David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist, while his sidekick and captain Brad Marchand blacked the scoresheet twice with two assists.
Launched on a breakaway by Jake DeBrusk, Pastrnak made a superb feint on goalie Vitek Vanecek to break the tie and give the Massachusetts team its first lead of the game.
More than four minutes after the Devils’ second goal, scored by Luke Hughes, Jake DeBrusk began the revolt of the local favorites.
Boston scored five unanswered goals, including four in the second half. Kevin Shattenkirk scored two goals in his team’s victory.
Aho continues his momentum
Sebastian Aho took charge in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Thanks to his three points (one goal and two assists) against the Queen City club, Aho now has 11 points in his last three games.
The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play thanks to Michael Bunting, a former Leafs player, and Seth Jarvis. Toronto’s responses came from the sticks of Timothy Liljegren and Nicholas Robertson.
Max Domi had two assists in his team’s defeat.