Rangers complete perfect home start with 4-1 win over Lightning as Alexis Lafrenière scores twice

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Alexis Lafrenière scored twice as the New York Rangers stayed perfect on home ice, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The forward’s two-goal performance extended his goal streak to four consecutive games, a career-best run.

Lafrenière has seven goals during the streak that began with a hat trick against the New York Islanders on October 6. In Tuesday’s win, Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad added goals for New York, while Tye Kartye recorded assists on both of Lafrenière’s scores. Dylan Garand made 25 saves for the Rangers.

With the victory, the Rangers improved to 6-2-0 overall and reached 5-0-0 at home, with all five home wins coming in regulation. The team’s home dominance continues a trend noted in the game recap: New York posted nine regulation wins at home all of last season, and did not reach its fifth home regulation win until December 20, arriving in that season’s 18th home game.

The Rangers’ early-season home success also marks a longer historical comparison highlighted in the NHL account: the last time New York won at least five straight home games to start a season was 1990-91, when they opened with an 8-0-0 home record.

For Tampa Bay, Zemgus Girgensons scored, but Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots in the loss. The Lightning entered the game after winning four straight, but their current run was snapped by the defeat. Tampa Bay fell to 4-2-0, with both of its losses this season coming against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

New York drew first blood 62 seconds into the game when Lafrenière scored to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The NHL recap described the play beginning with Kartye’s forecheck that forced a puck turnover from Victor Hedman. Kartye pursued the puck behind the goal and sent it back into the slot, where Lafrenière received it and converted.

Lafrenière then extended New York’s advantage to 2-0 at 12:47. Kartye and Lafrenière connected again as Kartye flipped a stretch pass from the Rangers’ defensive zone to Lafrenière, who advanced ahead of Hedman and Anthony Cirelli, brought the puck into his stride, maintained control on his forehand, and scored.

Tampa Bay responded at 17:26 when Girgensons scored to make it 2-1. The goal came during a 2-on-1 with Ilya Mikheyev to Girgensons’ left, and Girgensons finished by scoring over Garand’s left shoulder.

The Rangers pushed the score to 3-1 at 18:26 of the second period when Cuylle scored on a deflection from between the hash marks. New York then added insurance when Mika Zibanejad stole the puck from Brayden Point and scored a short-handed empty-net goal at 17:16 to complete the 4-1 final.

With the result, New York’s season record improved as it continued its regulation-perfect start at Madison Square Garden, while Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak ended in a game where both sides had recent history at the same venue this season.