Alexis Lafreniere’s struggles aren’t worrying Rangers teammates

Amid a four-game losing streak, the Rangers are preaching calm, and that extends to the performance, or lack thereof, of individual players. Case in point: Alexis Lafreniere.

The former top-overall pick hasn’t scored a point since the Rangers last won. They need production from him on the right side of the second line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin. That trio, in 89:16 together per Natural Stat Trick, has a 60.10 percent Corsi rate, a 50.72 expected goals percentage and is dead even on scoring chances. The only major category in which it is underwater is the most important: goals for, which is as good a stand-in as any for the Rangers right now.

“Good sign if you’re getting good chances,” Lafreniere said before the Rangers jetted off to Dallas for a match Saturday afternoon against the Stars. “They don’t mean much if you don’t score. You just gotta keep going, and I think eventually, we’ll find our way as a team.”

Lafreniere — and for that matter, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil, his linemates last season on the Kid Line — came into this season with more on their shoulders than ever. Lafreniere was thrust into a top-six role after Vitali Kravtsov flunked his training camp audition, but a successful playoff run would have bred expectations regardless of where in the lineup he ended up.

Moreover, with the Rangers in a cap crunch and having lost a number of forwards who had been integral to their run last season, they needed more from Lafreniere and the rest of the Kids, regardless of expectations.

The current second line, which came out with a bang when Lafreniere was first promoted there against the Wild in the second game of this season, has slowed down as all three participants figure out the jigsaw puzzle of how their respective games fit together.

“Just learning to play with different guys, that’s the toughest part,” Lafreniere said. “I think that they’re two really good players. Just trying to know a little bit where their favorite spots on the ice, in the [offensive] zone to get pucks and stuff like that. I think trying to work on getting a good forecheck in.”

That is a matter of patience, which Rangers coach Gerard Gallant is currently practicing.

With the Rangers sitting at 3-3-2 going into  weekend games at the Stars and Coyotes, the panic meter in the room is at zero.

“Individual players, you’re not gonna get 82 great games from them it’s gonna happen,” Gallant said. “I liked our game the last five periods. We keep doing that, we’ll win hockey games; there’s no doubt. Sometimes, the results aren’t there. Keep sticking with it, and you’ll win games. That’s how it works.”

Gallant said he thought the Rangers played well in their 3-0 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday. They outshot the Islanders, 41-29, but couldn’t get the puck by goaltender Ilya Sorokin.

As for Lafreniere?

“It’s like the rest of the team,” Gallant said. “He’s getting his chances. He’d like to finish more, he’d like to put the puck in the back of the net, but again, I’m not gonna point out Laffy over anybody else. He’s played fine.”

Being himself, Trocheck added, is the best way Lafreniere can contribute.

“I don’t want him to change his game,” Trocheck said. “There’s a reason that he’s here. He obviously is a really good hockey player. The way he competes, the way he works, is something that we need on our line. We just want him to go out there and play his game.”