Alexis Lafreniere was purposely sidelined on Thursday in the Rangers 2-1 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After being demoted to the fourth line at practice on Wednesday, Gerard Gallant talked about Lafreniere having opportunity but not being consistent enough. He doubled down on that reason when explaining the healthy scratch to the media before the game.
“Consistency is the word I mentioned yesterday,” Gallant said. “He wants to be better. We want him to be better. Just be more consistent in your game.”