After a season spent in the United States, Alexis Lafrenire made his return to Canada a good one. Playing for the first time in his hometown of Montreal, the Quebec kid scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 Rangers victory. It marked his first goal of the season and gave the Rangers their first win, to boot. With the Rangers on a breakout in the third period, Lafrenire sprinted down the left wing and buried the Mika Zibanejad helper. Laf' Brandon Williamson Jersey s first homecoming tally: | Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) Lafrenire, who took a stick to the chin for his efforts, made his family happy,the crowd not as much as it gave the visitors a 2-1 lead just 26 seconds after Jonathan Drouin tied things up. Mr. Laf is all of us. New York Rangers (@NYRangers) Last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, who was a star for the gold-medal winning Canadians at the 2020 World Junior Championship, grew up in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Eustache. Because the COVID-19 pandemic halted cro s-border travel, he did not play at home nor were his parents be able to travel to New York to see him play. An amped-upLafrenire was flying all night. He had a game-highfive shots and was credited with three hits in 16 minutes and 16 seconds of ice time. He is the first Quebec-born Ranger to score against Montreal since Derick Bra sard on March 26, 2016. Last season, the 20-year-old notched just 12 goals and nine a sists in 56 games. He struggled at times as he moved up and down the lineup. In 2021, under new bench bo s Gerard Gallant, he has been put in a prime spot playing on the top line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, who scored the opening goal. The win also marked the first of Gallant's Rangers tenure. Jonathan India Jersey