Rangers rookie Libor Hajek earns rave reviews in his debut
Libor Hajek took the ice all alone for his rookie lap during warmups Friday night at the Garden.
The tradition may not have helped settle the nerves building inside of the 21-year-old Rangers defenseman ahead of his NHL debut, but the solo skate did let it all sink in.
“It was beautiful,” Hajek said after holding his own in 17:35 of a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens. “The first step on the ice, seeing the people in warmups, the rink, it was the greatest feeling I ever had in my life. … I was waiting for that all my life.”
Summoned from AHL Hartford on Thursday, the lefty Hajek was paired with Neal Pionk on his right and impressed his new teammates.
“Loved his game. Loved it,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “He looks so poised, smart. Great skater. So many good things about his game. That was great to see him be out there, play a lot of minutes and do it really well.”
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Hajek, the No. 37 overall draft pick of the Lightning in 2016, was a key piece of the package that came to the Rangers in the Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller trade last February.
The Czech native tried to shake off the nerves all day — the 7 p.m. puck drop didn’t help, he said — but looked like he was comfortable from the start, according to his coach.
“I thought Libor had a really good night,” David Quinn said. “I thought he was poised, I thought he was fluid, I thought he defended well. He looked confident with the puck. I liked a lot about his game.”
Hajek’s only blemish was getting called for a holding-the-stick penalty, which Quinn joked he hadn’t seen since 1978.
“Any other player in the league doesn’t get that penalty, but he did tonight,” Quinn said.
In his second game as a Ranger since being traded from Winnipeg as part of the Kevin Hayes deal, Brendan Lemieux picked up his first goal.
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“It didn’t really matter, we lost the game,” the 22-year-old winger said. “It’s always cool to score a goal on a new team, but it’s about winning hockey games.”
While Quinn said Lemieux is “not in great game shape, no fault of his” after playing limited minutes with the Jets, the coach is pleased with what Lemieux has brought on and off the ice.
“There’s a lot there,” Quinn said. “Certainly glad we traded for him.”
Lundqvist stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first 20 minutes, including the 22,434th save of his career to pass Hall of Fame goalie Ed Belfour for seventh place on the all-time NHL saves list.
Filip Chytil and Fredrik Claesson were healthy scratches. Brett Howden (knee) missed his 15th straight game, but is targeting a Sunday return.