Rangers Recap: Lafrenière Stays Hot, Scores Twice as Rangers Top Lightning, 4-1

In their second meeting of the season in less than a two-week span, the New York Rangers hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Riding a four-game win streak at home, the Rangers would be up for quite the challenge against a Lightning team that hadn't lost since dropping its opening-night outing against the Rangers.

It was business as usual for both sides, as Dylan Garand would get his second straight start, going up against veteran Andrei Vasilevskiy. There would be one other change to the lineup, as Matt Rempe was back in the mix with Jaroslav Chmelar spending the night in the press box.

First Period

It took the Rangers longer than a minute this time around, but they were back at it with an early goal. Just 62 seconds in, a perfect shift from that line started with a hard forecheck from Tye Kartye and ended with Alexis Lafrenière finding the back of the net on the doorstep. 1-0 Rangers.

Just two minutes later, Gabe Perreault and Mika Zibanejad nearly connected on a zone entry that happened as a result of a bouncing puck. In the process, Zibanejad drew the game's first penalty, which sent John Carlson off for slashing. On the power play, the Rangers nearly extended the lead as a shot from Adam Fox took a couple of redirects, eventually hitting the post.

The Rangers had three shots on goal in addition to the post but would come up empty-handed on their first power play of the night.

With 12 minutes to go in the opening period, the Blueshirts got their second crack at the power play as Jeffrey Viel was called for a hooking infraction in the Rangers' end of the ice. This one would be short-lived, as Fox battled Zemgus Girgensons through the neutral zone and into his own end chasing down a loose puck, resulting in a holding call.

The Rangers maintained possession through a minute of 4-on-4 and were able to kill the short Lightning advantage with ease.

As Dave Maloney said on the broadcast, "When you're hot, you're hot." With just over seven minutes to go in the period, Kartye backhanded the puck from the Rangers' goal line to send Lafrenière on a break. With the puck still bouncing, Lafrenière fired a quick shot past Vasilevskiy for his second of the night, seventh of the season. 2-0 Rangers.

Shortly after, in an attempt to shift momentum, Viel challenged Rempe to his first fight since the thumb injury that sidelined him for most of last season. Rempe obliged and nearly took him down with one punch.

While it wasn't immediate, Viel accomplished his objective. With about two and a half to go in the period, the Lightning ended up on an odd-man rush, and Girgensons beat Garand up high as he opted for the shot. 2-1 game.

That would do it for the first period. The Rangers were the better team for the majority of play, but a late goal kept things interesting. Shots were 9-8 in Tampa's favor heading into the first intermission, with both teams being credited with four high-danger chances.

Second Period

The Rangers got their third power-play chance within the first minute of the second stanza as Perreault was tripped up in front of the net by Erik Cernak. Perreault would slot in for Pavel Dorofeyev on the top unit this time around, and that group would spend the entirety of the two-minute advantage generating offense but not converting.

About a minute or two after the teams returned to even strength, the Rangers went to the penalty kill as Braden Schneider was called for hooking. The Lightning had a couple of quality chances on the advantage, but Garand was up for the challenge and helped his team kill off the penalty.

Play slowed down a bit from there but picked up with a big reverse hit from J.T. Miller on Max Crozier. Moments later, Lafrenière had a chance to go for the hat trick but opted to pass it over to Kartye, who couldn't get enough on the shot. The Rangers stayed the course and, with a minute and a half to go, added to their lead. On a simple play moving the puck from down low to the point, Sean Durzi let a shot go, and Will Cuylle was there to tip it in, making it a 3-1 game.

That would do it for the second, as the Rangers had another good period, adding to the scoreboard to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Shots after 40 minutes were 18-17 in Tampa's favor.

Third Period

Just 30 seconds into the third, Durzi was called for cross-checking to send Tampa to a power play. It was again short-lived, as Anthony Cirelli was sent off for slashing Noah Laba. His name wouldn't be in the headlines of this one, but Laba was quietly having a strong game for the Rangers.

Another 4-on-4 and man advantage came and went with the Rangers not converting, but they remained in good standing with their two-goal lead. This game was becoming a great example of two things. One was the new and improved Rangers defense, which was doing a fantastic job of keeping the puck away from Tampa's top players. The second was that Garand was absolutely adjusting to the NHL, as he continued to stand tall throughout the night.

The Rangers picked up a couple of odd-man rushes late in the third but were unable to connect on either of them. With four and a half to go, Laba took a hard hit along the boards from Brandon Hagel, but Kartye was right there to return the favor. He picked up an interference call before a minor scrum unfolded, which sent Tampa to its fourth power play of the night.

Tampa would pull the goaltender with lots of time left to make it a 6-on-4 advantage. The last time the Bolts did that, it resulted in Igor Shesterkin's memorable first career goal. This time, it would turn into a shorthanded goal for Zibanejad off a takeaway in the neutral zone to make it a 4-1 game.

That would do it for this one, as the Rangers won their fifth consecutive game on home ice and extended their record to 6-2 to start the season. Final shots on goal would be 26-22 in Tampa's favor. The Rangers will hit the road for their next two games but will be right back at it across the river Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils.