In the final home game of the season, the Rangers fell to the Sabres 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Despite the loss, there were some positive things to take away. Facing one of the league’s best teams, the Rangers had the better of the play for a good majority of the game.

Even though they quickly fell behind on a pair of goals from Ryan McLeod and Zach Benson, the Rangers outplayed the Sabres in a good first period.

Prior to McLeod opening the scoring, they generated a few chances on the forecheck. That included some grunt work from J.T. Miller and Tye Kartye, which led to a Conor Sheary shot that was handled by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The number one line buzzed throughout the first period. Alexis Lafreniere came close to connecting with Mika Zibanejad for a goal. Along with Gabe Perreault, they spent a lot of time in the offensive zone against the Sabres.

Late in the period, with the Rangers still trailing by two, Lafreniere scored on the power play to cut the deficit in half. Zibanejad made a cross ice pass for Miller, who moved the puck up top for an Adam Fox shot pass that Lafreniere tipped in for his 23rd.

It was a perfect example of why the power play has been clicking. They came in ranked third best in the NHL for a reason. The quick passing opened up the net front for Lafreniere to redirect home Fox’s pass. It was eerily similar to how former Ranger Chris Kreider scored most of his power-play goals.

Lafreniere has gotten much better at deflecting pucks in for goals. He has added that skill to his repertoire. He was a bright spot in the defeat by tallying twice.

In a well played second period, the Rangers outscored the Sabres 2-0 to take the lead. Less than three minutes in, rookie defenseman Drew Fortescue made a perfect outlet to lead Lafreniere on a breakaway. He beat Luukkonen with a beautiful wrist shot top shelf to tie the score.

He’s continued to finish the season strong. Since Jan. 1, Lafreniere has 35 points in his last 37 games. He’s been at a point-per-game clip since March with 22 points in 20 games. During that stretch, 11 of his 24 goals have come with Lafreniere showing improvement on the power play since Artemi Panarin was traded.

He was camped out in front on Fox’s go-ahead power-play goal that made it 3-2 with 5:16 left in the second.

During the MSG intermission segment, he said they had to do a better job spending more time in the Sabres zone while doing less defending.

Unfortunately, it was the playoff bound Sabres who flexed their muscles with a dominant third period. They outshot the Rangers 8-1 while getting two greasy goals to turn the game around.

The first one came when Peyton Krebs took a Tage Thompson feed and had his point shot tipped in by Alex Tuch to tie the score. Tuch was able to just get a piece of it to beat Igor Shesterkin for his 31st.

On the next shift, Jason Zucker was able to outmuscle Perreault to stuff in a loose puck past Shesterkin. Ryan McLeod took the initial shot that Shesterkin couldn’t control, allowing Zucker to notch the game-winner with 12:46 remaining.

Despite Kartye drawing an even up call that eventually put the Rangers on an abbreviated man-advantage for 76 seconds, they were unable to muster anything.

In fact, they were held without a shot until less than two minutes were left in regulation. There were too many instances when players passed up on shots, with Vladislav Gavrikov having a good look but opting for a low percentage pass instead.

It was a frustrating way to end the home part of the season. During a seven-game homestand, the Rangers played well by going 5-2-0. In fact, they outscored opponents 25-5 in the five victories. They played both the Canadiens and Sabres tough, losing close games.

There’s been a lot more to like about where they are now. Instead of relying on a few players, they’ve become a four line team due to their strength down the middle.

For as disappointing a year as it’s been, they’re going out the right way. With several youngsters added to the mix, the future looks bright.