Artemi Panarin's line dominates as Rangers win opener vs. Sabres

BUFFALO — The way the preseason went for the Rangers, it looked like there were a few reasons to be concerned.

And then the real season started.

Alexis Lafreniere, who had an absolutely miserable preseason, scored the Rangers’ first goal of the regular season Thursday, and his line with Artemi Panarin and Filip Chytil dominated as the Rangers beat the Sabres, 5-1, at KeyBank Center.

Peter Laviolette got his first win as Rangers coach.

Panarin had a goal and assist as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

That line never got a chance to play together in the preseason because Chytil missed time with an upper-body injury.

“I thought the line was excellent,’’ Laviolette said. “I thought it was good to get Fil back in there. He’s trying to get up to speed a little bit with everybody else . . . and I thought that Artemi was excellent tonight with his game. And the line, I thought, was really effective.’’

Chris Kreider scored two goals — one on the power play, and one shorthanded. Jacob Trouba added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining.

Panarin, who was so disconsolate at Breakup Day in May after the Rangers’ seven-game, first-round playoff loss to the Devils, shaved his head over the summer and said he spent more time than usual in the gym. He came to training camp hungry, and said at the start of camp that only getting back on the ice and playing again would help him to feel better after the way last season ended.

“I feel pretty good now,’’ he said with a wide grin.

“I like hockey more and more every year, so I’m just excited to be here, and play for that [Rangers] jersey,’’ he said. “It’s hard to be sad before the game. It’s easy to be sad after the game if you lost, but we had the luck tonight and everyone played great.’’

Panarin and his young linemates combined for six shots on goal in the first period (two each), and nine for the game (three each). Lafreniere opened the scoring at 3:47 of the first period, tapping in a feed from Panarin into a yawning net after Panarin had gathered his own rebound and slid the puck across the crease to Lafreniere, who was driving the back post.

Kreider tipped in a shot by Adam Fox on a power play at 12:22 of the first period to make it 2-0. Then, midway through the second, Panarin pounced on a giveaway just inside the Buffalo blue line and whipped a wrist shot past rookie goalie Devon Levi (26 saves) to make it 3-0 at 12:49.

The Sabres got on the board at 18:30 of the second when Owen Power fired a shot that was blocked by Trouba (eight blocks), and the puck fell to J.J. Peterka, who fired it past Igor Shesterkin (24 saves).

The Rangers, who went 1-5 in the preseason, looked like a well-oiled machine in the first two periods. They were physical and they outshot Buffalo 21-12 through 40 minutes and 31-25 overall. They won the battle of the special teams, too, going 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, including Kreider’s shorthanded goal, which came at 11:34 of the third period to make it 4-1.

“I thought we were really sharp in the first period, ready to skate, ready to compete,’’ Laviolette said. “And it kind of stayed that way through the whole game. Specialty teams have been putting in a lot of time and saw some really good results.

“The power play moved the puck, I thought, pretty good tonight. And the penalty kill was absolutely courageous. The way they defended and the way they blocked shots tonight was something else.

“So, really, it’s one win. [But] it’s a good start.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.