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DETROIT — Growing up in a western suburb of Detroit, Michigan, Noah Laba frequented Red Wings games at the old Joe Louis Arena.
On Friday night against that very team, the rookie scored the game-winning goal to help secure a 4-1 win for the Rangers in front of a Little Caesar’s Arena crowd that included 30-plus members of his friends and family.
This was a feel-good win for more reasons than just Laba’s dream homecoming.
The Rangers posted four goals or more for the sixth time this season, scoring twice in the third period to run away with a game they controlled for a majority of the 60 minutes.
Key players returned to the scoresheet and the team stayed poised from start to finish.
Artemi Panarin — a bit lighter after shaving his curls off again — snapped a career-long streak of six games without a point with a three-point effort in the victory.
Alexis Lafreniere scored his second goal of the season and the first in 12 games.
And goalie Jonathan Quick picked up his third straight win behind a 32-save performance.
All it took was getting away from Madison Square Garden, where the team is still winless through six games.
With three goals and two assists so far, Laba has brought a strong presence to the Rangers lineup through his first 15 NHL games.
As his experience grows, so does his confidence and comfort with the puck. Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan has rather quickly entrusted Laba with more ice time and special teams responsibility.
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As Vincent Trocheck missed his 13th straight game on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury, the Rangers have benefited greatly from Laba’s ability to step up and fill in some of the void left by No. 16.
The Rangers power play, on an 0-for-12 skid in their previous five games, opened the scoring with just their fifth goal of the season.
After getting promoted to the first power-play unit in practice on Thursday, Will Cuylle wristed home a slick cross-ice pass from Mika Zibanejad for his third goal of the season and just the fifth man-advantage goal of his career.
The Red Wings, however, responded less than five minutes later. J.T. Compher buried a feed from Mason Appleton behind the Rangers net to tie it up at one-all.
Still, the visitors held an impressive 5-1 edge in high-danger chances through the first 20 minutes, according to Natural stat Trick.
Just as the Rangers second power play of the evening expired, Panarin found Lafreniere by the back post. Lafreniere then chipped the puck in front to Laba, who flipped it in to retake the lead for the Rangers.
Panarin later whipped his third goal of the season past Red Wings goalie (and former Ranger) Cam Talbot off a feed from Zibanejad in the third period. The Rangers slowed the pace down as they comfortably skated with a lead.
To cap the scoring, Lafreniere went five-hole on Talbot after getting sprung by a pass off the wall from Conor Sheary.
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