Rookie defenseman Victor Mancini's nets an absolute beauty for his first goal in the AHL!

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Joshua Deeds
November 16, 2024 (3:36 PM)

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The New York Rangers have a real one in Hartford, as Victor Mancini didn't wait long to establish his dominance.

He scored his first goal in the AHL with the Wolfpack, against the Charlotte Checkers, giving the Pack the 2-1 lead.

The goal came at 16:38 in the 3rd period:

Mancini's unassisted goal was against former NHL goalie, Chris Driedger who played his last game in the NHL during the 2023-2024 season with the Florida Panthers.

Mancini picked off a clearing attempt at the right point inside the blue line to start his unassisted scoring play early in the third period. He confidently burst forward on right wing, danced around one defender and then sent a shot/pass towards the slot which appeared to hit Checkers goalie Chris Driedger - a former NHLer - in the pads and and carom into the net at 3:23.

This would give the Pack the lead in the game, and last season he played only 7 games in the AHL posting three assists.

If this is what we can expect from him in the AHL, it doesn't seem like it'll be long before he finds his way into the NHL again.

In all irony though, let's not forget his first NHL goal came against the Detroit Red Wings and Cam Talbot on October 17th, during his homecoming.

This wasn't his first professional goal, and in nine games the defenseman had 4 points( 1 G, 3 A) in the NHL. He's proven he can play at both levels early into his career.

The 6-foot-3, 229-pounder proved he could play at the NHL level after surprisingly making the team out of training camp, taking advantage of an injury to Ryan Lindgren, which opened up a spot on the defense corps.

But in order to find his way back into the lineup, he'll have to improve his defensive stats.

However, his defensive metrics headed in the wrong direction his last few games in the lineup. His 33.46 xGF percentage is worst on the Rangers, per Natural Stat Trick. New York was out-shot 93-49 with him on the ice, and out-chanced 91-48.

He'll have to do more than prove he's a viable offensive defenseman and work both sides of the puck efficiently.