Reliving Rangers: Alexis Lafrenière first NHL goal leads to Sabres reporter getting roasted
Forever Blueshirts is starting a new series of articles for the offseason called, Reliving Rangers. From now until next season, we will be posting some of the most important moments of the 2020-21 campaign. We begin with Alexis Lafrenière’s first NHL goal!
Alexis Lafrenière’s first NHL goal, January 29th 2021
It was the tail end of a long shift for the 19 year-old rookie, as Colin Blackwell was able to get the puck and send a feed cross ice. Lafrenière, unlike a few other chances earlier that night, calmly settled the puck before lifting it for the euphoric game winner.
After the game, David Quinn called Lafrenière “ballsy” for his tenacious play. It was a great moment for him, but he understood that the goal was even bigger for his team to break the losing streak.
The close friendship between K’Andre Miller, who was on the ice when Lafreniere scored, is obvious. Miller could be heard screaming with joy on the ice when his buddy buried the puck past Linus Ullmark.
Sabres reporter gets roasted after calling out Lafrenière
A Buffalo reporter made a confounding observation that night. In a tweet, Mike Harrington wrote; “it’s another nothing performance from Alexis Lafreniere. One shot on goal in 9:11 of ice time. Still no points in seven games for the No. 1 overall pick. You don’t even notice him.”
Now, I’m not sure what games Mr. Harrington had been watching, or if he was paying close enough attention to Lafreniere who probably should’ve had a hat trick in that game.
The 19 year-old was the first ever first overall pick to score his first NHL goal in OT per Sportsnet Stats. “It’s pretty crazy. Overtime, game-winning goal, it was really special. I’ll never forget this moment, for sure,” Alexis Lafreniere said wearing the Broadway Hat, awarded to the player’s player of the game. “I had a lot of good chances and I was just keeping it going. It was going to go in, for sure. I kept going, kept grinding. Nice pass by [Blackwell] and I had the open net. It was a really good play by ‘Blacky.’”
Even in his euphoria, he credited Colin Blackwell for the great play and talked more about the team than himself. It’s no wonder why many within the Rangers organization feel that he will be the future captain of this team.
As far as Mr. Harrington, he certainly heard it last night from hockey and Rangers fans. He handled most of them very well too, and no one should be coming at anyone with vulgarity, especially over a hockey opinion.
“#NYR fans having a good time with the Lafreniere tweet — which was 100 percent correct at the time,” Harrington responded. “Good job by all reacting to something said in real time in the wake of something else that happened 20 minutes later.”
I will leave you all with my response. If you ask me, it was the most appropriate one possible.
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