Lafreniere helps Rangers get first win, spoil Canadiens home opener

MONTREAL --
Alexis Lafreniere
broke a tie in the third period, and the New York Rangers spoiled the Montreal Canadiens' home opener with a 3-1 win at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Chris Kreider scored for the third straight game, Mika Zibanejad had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves for New York (1-1-1) in Gerard Gallant's first win as Rangers coach.
"The goaltending on both sides was excellent so it was definitely good to get that first win for our team," Gallant said.
Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from nearby Saint-Eustache, Quebec, scored on a 2-on-1, deflecting a pass from Zibanejad to put the Rangers up 2-1 at 9:50.
"Obviously to score in Montreal, it's pretty fun," Lafreniere said. "The team played well. You know, a great effort, and obviously a nice pass by Mika on the goal. It's hard to imagine anything better. It was a really nice effort by the whole team."
The goal, with Lafreniere's family looking on from a suite, came 26 seconds after the Canadiens tied the game.
"He's still a really young kid but he's a talented kid, and we asked him to play a better two-way game and he's responded to that," Gallant said. "He created three or four chances tonight. He scored a nice goal, he had some other chances, so we really like the progress from training camp until right now."

Jonathan Drouin scored, and Jake Allen made 21 saves for Montreal (0-3-0), which hosted its first capacity crowd since March 10, 2020.
"It's not just one thing," Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. "First, we have to be more dynamic offensively, like we were in the third period. Second, we have to have more of a presence in front of the net. There were times in the second period when one of our players had the puck, but he had to wait for a teammate to go to the net."
Drouin drew Montreal even 1-1 at 9:24 of the third when he deked and scored from the goalmouth on a backhand after he was left unmarked to receive a centering pass from Christian Dvorak, who carried the puck behind the goal.
Kevin Rooney scored into an empty net at 19:50 for the 3-1 final.
"To come outside of the U.S. and come here and play a Saturday night in Montreal you know it's going to be an electric atmosphere, and it certainly was today," Zibanejad said. "But it's good to leave here with a win."

The Canadiens have scored three goals during their longest losing streak to open a season since they lost their first five games in 1995-96.
"We're playing outside a little bit too much," Drouin said. "Today, there were a lot of rebounds from that goalie. He played well, but a lot of rebounds laying in the slot, laying around the net, and not a lot of guys to capitalize on those rebounds or get that dirty goal right now."
Kreider gave New York a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:59 of the second period. He was positioned in front of the net for a deflection when Zibanejad's pass into the goalmouth caromed off his skate and Montreal defenseman Alexander Romanov's skate into the net.
NOTES: Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko sustained an upper-body injury in the first period. Gallant said he is day to day. … New York was without forward Ryan Strome, who is in NHL COVID-19 protocol. … The Canadiens were 0-for-3 on the power play and have not scored with the man-advantage in their first 11 opportunities. … Forward Mike Hoffman, who signed a three-year contract July 28, could make his Canadiens debut Tuesday (San Jose Sharks) or Thursday (Carolina Hurricanes).