One down. 81 to go. If they’re all like this, then it promises to be a good season under Peter Laviolette. In what was a dominant performance, the Rangers easily handled the Sabres 5-1 at KeyBank Center. They spoiled an emotional home opener before a packed crowd of 19,070 in Western New York.

Prior to the game, the Sabres paid tribute to Hall of Fame broadcaster Rick Jeanneret by dedicating a memorial to the man affectionately known as RJ. He passed away this past summer at age 81. For 50 years, he was the voice of Sabres hockey. They dedicated Rick Jeanneret Way to him outside the arena. He’ll never be forgotten.

Once the puck dropped, it was the Rangers who were the superior team. On Thursday night, they skated. They forechecked and backchecked. They scored goals. They defended well to make life easier on themselves. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Laviolette had his first victory in his first game behind the Rangers bench. He even showed some emotion when assistant Phil Housley congratulated him.

One thing was apparent early on. The new second line Laviolette put together had early chemistry. Despite hardly playing together in preseason, it was the line featuring Artemi Panarin with Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere that got off to a fast start. After coming close moments earlier, the trio combined for the first goal of the season on a quick transition. Chytil led Panarin, who then whipped a perfect pass across for an easy Lafreniere finish at 3:47.

It was exactly the start Lafreniere needed. He put his struggles in training camp behind him. The recently turned 22-year-old had a good game, finishing with a goal and what should be an assist. During the second period, it was his defensive play that led to Panarin scoring his 100th goal as a Ranger. It looked like a takeaway and clear possession. The league has it as an unassisted goal for Panarin. We’ll see if that changes.

Following the early tally by Lafreniere, who smiled when seeing the replay on the bench, rookie Will Cuylle asserted himself. Continuing to carry over the aggressive style that earned him a spot in the top nine, he was very noticeable throughout the game. He wasn’t shy about finishing checks and going to the net. He almost had his first goal, but fanned on a pass from Vincent Trocheck. He’d later catch Owen Power with a heavy hit behind the Sabres’ net.

Sabres rookie Zach Benson hooked Adam Fox with under eight minutes left in the first period. The Rangers made the teenager pay for that mistake. In quick fashion, Mika Zibanejad passed over for Fox at the point. His wrist shot was tipped in by Chris Kreider for the first power play goal of the season. It took only 16 seconds for the Rangers to go up by two.

The assist for Fox was number 200. As noted during the broadcast on MSG Network, that made him sixth fastest defenseman to reach 200 in NHL history.

In the late stages of the first, both Igor Shesterkin and Devon Levi made some good saves to keep it at 2-0 Rangers. Shesterkin didn’t break a sweat in the second period. Even with Jordan Greenway throwing some tough hits, the Sabres had trouble getting through the neutral zone. The Rangers played a 1-3-1 to slow down the offensive minded Sabres. Tage Thompson found little operating room. Rasmus Dahlin had a tough time. So did the Buffalo crowd, which went silent halfway through the game.

If there was one highlight early for the Sabres contingent, it was a classic hip check delivered by Dahlin that sent Chytil flying. That was one to admire.

On the first shift of the second, Kaapo Kakko was hauled down by Jeff Skinner. Unlike the first power play, the second one didn’t get much accomplished. Instead, rugged defenseman Mattias Samuelsson blocked shots from Fox and Trocheck to help kill the penalty off.

Back at even strength, Benson made a good drop pass for Samuelsson. But he sent his shot wide. On the play, Fox went down to force Samuelsson to cut it fine. He was unable to hit the net from a tough angle.

Following a pad save from Shesterkin on a long wrist shot by Zemgus Girgensons, the Sabres created their best chance. On a rush, Erik Johnson snuck in as the fourth player. But his shot hit the crossbar. That close to a one-goal game.

Afterwards, the Sabres mustered nothing. They kept forcing the action into the teeth of the strict defensive system the Laviolette Blueshirts executed. It was as if they’d played for longer under the successful coach. The fans had little to get excited about.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the period, Lafreniere forced Dahlin into a turnover. He used his strength to take the puck away from the Sabres top defenseman. On the play, he appeared to kick the puck and push it ahead for an open Panarin wrist shot that beat Levi for a three-goal lead. After closely reviewing the scoring play again, the puck banked off a Sabre skate towards Panarin, who banked his 100th goal as a Ranger. Lafreniere might not get a point for it. But he made the play.

The Rangers remained in control until a fluky play finally woke up the home crowd. Owen Power had his shot blocked by a diving Jacob Trouba. However, the puck took a Sabres bounce right to J. J. Peterka, whose follow-up beat Shesterkin with 1:30 left in the period.

In the third, the Rangers ran into penalty trouble. With Chytil already off for tripping Girgensons, Trocheck tripped Peterka to give the Sabres an abbreviated five-on-three. After they didn’t score on it, Zibanejad made a great defensive play that led to a Kreider shorthanded goal with 8:26 left. He took a K’Andre Miller feed and made a strong rush towards the Buffalo net. With the Sabres scrambling, Zibanejad sent a brilliant pass for Kreider, who scored the first shorthanded goal of the season to make it 4-1.

Shesterkin did the rest by stopping all 13 shots to pick up his 100th career win. He made 24 saves on the night.

With the Sabres opting to lift Levi for an extra attacker down three, Zibanejad and Kreider won a defensive draw over to Trouba, who sent a sho down into the open net. That put the bow on a successful night. A nice reward for Trouba, who blocked a game high eight shots.

As a team, the Rangers finished with 23 blocks. They also dominated on face-offs by winning 38 of 60. Trocheck went 12 and 6 while Nick Bonino was 9 and 3. Even Lafreniere went 4 and 1.

Tomorrow, we’ll have takeaways on what made the first game such a success. The next game is Saturday at Columbus.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

3rd 🌟 Alexis Lafreniere NYR 1st goal of season, 3 SOG, takeaway, +2 in 15:29

2nd 🌟 Artemi Panarin NYR 1st goal of season plus 🍎, 3 SOG, +2 in 15:44

1st 🌟 Chris Kreider NYR 2 goals including PPG and SHG, 🍎, 3 SOG, +2 in 14:28