Rangers' Alexis Lafreniere, Will Cuylle confident goals will eventually come
Alexis Lafreniere of the Rangers shoots the puck during the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH — Scoring goals has been the biggest topic of discussion for the Rangers this season, a challenge for all the Blueshirt players. In eight games — one of which went to overtime — the Blueshirts have scored a total of 16 goals, an average of two per game.
Defenseman Adam Fox leads the team with three goals, and Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller each have two.
Top-6 forwards Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle each have just one goal, and Lafreniere has one assist, Cuylle none. And so, at Wednesday’s practice, the question was put to coach Mike Sullivan: Are the two young wingers playing well enough?
“I think there’s another level to their game,’’ Sullivan said.
“Some of the discussions we've had are just try to encourage them to get to the interior of the rink a little bit more,’’ Sullivan said. “More of a mindset of trying to get inside the [faceoff] dots… There's more involved, but essentially, the message has been just trying to help encourage them to get to the interior of the rink, because that's where the goals are scored.’’
Both Lafreniere, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, who turned 24 on Oct. 11, and Cuylle, a second-round pick in 2020 who is 23, think they’re playing fine. Both are saying the same things about their own games that the entire team has been saying for weeks now about the team’s scoring struggles: Keep playing the same way you have been, and the goals will come.
“I mean, yeah, it can get frustrating,’’ Lafreniere said. “I think last game [a 3-1 loss Monday at home to Minnesota] wasn't our best, but before that every game we had some really good looks on the power play, 5-on-5. We’ve just got to score on them . . . Keep playing that the same way and it's going to come.’’
“I feel like I'm getting lots of good chances,’’ Cuylle said. “I don't know, goalies have made some pretty big saves. So, as long as you're playing the right way… ’’
Lafreniere started the season on his regular line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin, but the upper-body injury suffered by Trocheck in the season’s second game changed things. Initially, Mika Zibanejad stepped into Trocheck’s place, but after a few games, Sullivan tweaked the lines to try and generate some more offense, swapping Lafreniere and Cuylle. Cuylle went to right wing with Panarin and Zibanejad and Lafreniere went with J.T. Miller and Conor Sheary.
Cuylle, who’s in his third season, was one of the very few bright spots for the Rangers in a disappointing 2024-25 season that ended with them missing the playoffs. The 6-3, 212-pounder set a franchise record for hits (301) and was a fixture in front of the net, ending up with 20 goals and 45 points.
He insisted he would have no problems maintaining his confidence despite the lack of goals for him and the team.
“Last year I went like [13] games without a point [from Dec. 22 to Jan. 19],’’ Cuylie recalled. “So, we played eight games so far . . . but it's a long season. Lots ups and downs, right? Try to keep a level head through it and just try to play your game and don't cheat the game and I feel like it usually balances out in the end.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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