GREENBURGH, N.Y. – No one who saw Alexis Lafreniere’s fight with Jean-Gabriel Pageau in Wednesday’s 4-1 Rangers victory over the rival Islanders in UBS Arena can be surprised to learn it was Lafreniere’s first hockey fight. Ever.
"First one,’’ Lafreniere admitted with a smile Thursday, after the Rangers’ Thanksgiving Day practice.
It wasn’t much of a fight, certainly not compared to anything teammate Ryan Reaves might have engaged in. And to be honest, Lafreniere and the Rangers caught a big break when the referees didn’t give the 20-year-old forward an instigator penalty, which would have given the Islanders a power play, and would have automatically meant a one-game suspension for Lafreniere, since the fight occurred in the final five minutes of a game.