\u201cThose guys, they all have really good offensive instincts. They\u2019re a little bit different in how they play, but I think that\u2019s been a little bit complementary.\u201d<\/p>\n
With leading scorer Artemi Panarin dealt to the Kings before the Olympic break and captain J.T. Miller presently on injured reserve, Sullivan has been forced to try different top six combinations up front.<\/p>\n
Lafreni\u00e8re, who played much of the season on a line alongside Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, has totaled five goals and eight points in his last four games, including his second career hat trick against the Flames.<\/p>\n
![\"Mika](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Zibanejad.Lafreniere.jpg\")
Mika Zibanejad (right) congratulates Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re after one of his three goals in the Rangers\u2019 4-0 win over the Flames on March 10, 2026 at the Garden. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Perreault \u2014 the team\u2019s 2023 first-round pick \u2014 has gone 3-4-7 over his past five to match his goal total over his first 31 NHL appearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the way [Lafreni\u00e8re] has been and even Gabe, I don\u2019t think the mistakes get to them the same way maybe when you have that confidence,\u201d said Zibanejad, who notched his 800th career point Tuesday night. \u201cAs their linemate, I don\u2019t mind [mistakes]. Make plays, make mistakes and we learn from it. But you have to keep playing.<\/p>\n
![\"Gabe](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gabe-Perreault-1.jpg\")
Gabe Perreault waves to the crowd after being named the third star in the Rangers\u2019 win over the Flames on March 10, 2026 at the Garden. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they\u2019ve been awesome. Happy for Laf to get that hat trick. It\u2019s been fun to watch and fun to play with those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
After winning just three of their final 18 games (3-13-2) before the leaguewide shutdown in early February, the Rangers suddenly have lost only once in regulation in their last seven contests (4-1-2) since the restart.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I\u2019m happy for the guys. I think they are competing hard and they are playing for one another,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cThey\u2019re executing for the most part. It\u2019s not perfect. But I think these guys are competing extremely hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things we talked about coming out of the break was just trying to use this as a fresh start, hit the reset button and then trying to feel good about what we do every day and see where it takes us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A strong finish for the 24-year-old Lafreni\u00e8re, who is signed through the 2031-32 season, and getting Perreault established as a productive forward at the NHL level are among the most important questions the Rangers (26-30-8) need to answer over their final 18 games heading into the summer.<\/p>\n
The newly formed Zibanejad line is at least giving them some reason for optimism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been unbelievable. \u2026 Every time they get [the puck], they can make a play, and for me, it\u2019s just trying to help them as much as I can and just trying to get open for them,\u201d Lafreni\u00e8re said. \u201cWinning games, this year has been not the best for us. We struggled. But post-break we\u2019ve been winning some games. And it feels a lot better, for sure. \u2026 It makes it more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rangers reconvened after the Olympic stoppage wanting to find some successful combinations that had been largely absent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5111],"tags":[304,5,160,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-498969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-alexis-lafreniere","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-mika-zibanejad","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkrangers","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-rangers","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116213830448923465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}