Rookies Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller got their first taste of the NHL – and it was sour.
Igor Shesterkin, who is technically a rookie despite his 12-game regular-season cameo last season, would probably say the same thing with his first start to the opening night, as he allowed four goals. in the Rangers loss to the Madison Square Garden Islands on Thursday.
But head coach David Quinn said he wants his young players to learn from such losses, perhaps he will come much sooner than he thought.
“It’s a great lesson for a young player to play against such a team,” Quinn said in a Zoom call after losing 4-0. “[The Islanders] understand what a professional is at this level. It’s not so much to go out and play a great game, but to play hockey smart and sometimes you come out of a change and nothing happens, that’s a good change.
“Unfortunately for us right now, after one night, that’s not how we want to approach it, but I think it was an excellent lesson for those young people.”
Miller, who made his NHL debut in the second defensive pairing with Jacob Trouba, hit just under 14 minutes of ice. He committed a turnover at the start of the second period, which allowed Shesterkin to dry out while Islands captain Anders Lee turned into a double run for a 2-0 score.
“Obviously, the National Hockey League is a difficult league to win,” Miller said. “So, I think that only this first game is a good example in this sense, that every game will be a battle. You have to play the full 60 minutes and hopefully stand out from the other side. ”
Lafreniere turned in a dismal performance, however. In a game where mistakes were made by beginners throughout the game, Lafreniere was no exception when he played the puck while making a change and caused the Rangers to call too many men on the ice penalty towards the end of the first period. .
The first-place pick in 2020 committed its second sentence of the night, when it was called to cling to 14:13 of the second period, which led to a Jordan Eberle power goal of about 50 points. seconds later.
“Certainly a lot of nerves,” Lafreniere said. “After a few changes, [I] felt better. I try to work as hard as I can, obviously the first tough game. But we will improve and work on our game and we will try to come back on Saturday “.
The Rangers were 0-for-3 in the power play, but the eight penalties allowed the Islands to score two power play goals.