NEW YORK – The waiting is over.

1994 it isn’t, but this year’s New York Rangers finally ended their season-opening stretch of bad home losses with a 6-3 demolition of the Nashville Predators on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Five players had two or more points on the night — led by Alexis Lafreniere’s one goal and two assist performance — and the addition of veteran Vincent Trocheck after missing 14 straight games due to injury and rookie Gabe Perreault, who tallied his first career NHL point in the victory, seemed to be the spark the team needed to finally break through in Manhattan.

“I think it’s huge,” said Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan of finally winning at home.

“We couldn’t be happier for the group. They’ve been pressing for this for a number of games now, and I said to them this morning that’s going to be our challenge tonight …  we’ve got to embrace it and make sure that we help each other through this process.  I thought the guys did a great job.  We didn’t try to do too much; we defended hard and took what the game gave us.”

Truth be told, the Rangers are a very dangerous team if they can sustain home success, with a 7-1-1 road record perhaps more indicative of what they’re capable of than what’s now a 1-6-1 mark at The World’s Most Famous Arena.

And perhaps there’s something to be said for the composition of the team when the breakthrough did occur as well, with the 20-year-old Perreault, the Rangers first-round pick out of Boston College in 2023, playing a pivotal role.

Perreault picked up the primary assist on Lafreniere’s second-period power play goal, and said afterwards that the puck from his first NHL point will simply go with all the others, but that it was a good feeling to finally get on the scoresheet.  The win was more important, and he said he didn’t necessarily feel any pressure to provide the boost that many thought he could upon his long-overdue recall from the American Hockey League.

“I just wanted to help the team any way I can,” he said. “Usually when the team is winning, individual success comes after that. That’s kind of what I went by, and I’m really happy we got the win…they’ve been playing really well, I think, and I came here at a good time.  We got some bounces tonight, and it was nice to get that win and be part of it.”

Another step towards unlocking Lafreniere’s vast potential shouldn’t go unnoticed either.

The oft-mercurial 24-year-old forward, who was the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, has never quite lived up to that billing, at least consistently, anyway. A 28-goal season in 2023-24 in which seemed on the verge of a breakout was followed by a much more uneven campaign last year.

A three-point showing on Monday, albeit against a floundering franchise like Nashville, could be just the boost he needs. After the game, however, he was far more interested in giving credit to others, speaking on what the returns of Trocheck and Perreault did for the group.

“It was good,” he said. “Two really good players, and they bring some offense. They were really good for us.”