Alexis Lafreniere scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection in the third period, and the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 on Thursday night to pick up their first regulation win at home in more than three months.
It was the Rangers’ 19th game at Madison Square Garden since defeating St. Louis on Nov. 24. They had lost 13 of 18 since, with the only victories during that stretch coming in overtime or a shootout.
Falling behind 13 seconds in, they rallied to win for just the eighth time in 28 home games all season.
Jaroslav Chmelar scored his first career NHL goal a few minutes after Lafreniere put the Rangers up, bringing some joy to the team and crowd at the three-quarter mark of a season that long ago went off the rails.
Playing on the eve of the trade deadline, who was not in uniform for New York and Toronto to safeguard them from injury was just as notable, if not more notable, than who was on the ice.
The Rangers scratched centers Vincent Trocheck and Sam Carrick. The Maple Leafs, for a second consecutive night, opted not to dress defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forwards Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann. Roster management was the reason given.
Toronto, which traded centre Nicolas Roy to Colorado earlier Thursday, lost its sixth game in a row coming out of the Olympic break. The Leafs’ longest-active playoff streak is well on its way to ending at nine.
The upcoming stretch isn’t kind to Toronto, as the Maple Leafs will travel to Tampa Bay for a game against the Lightning on Saturday, followed by games against multiple teams in playoff contention, including Montreal (March 10), Anaheim (March 12), Buffalo (March 14) and Minnesota (March 15).