Rangers coach Gerard Gallant makes Alexis Lafreniere a healthy scratch for Thursday

TAMPA, Fla. — Dropping former No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere to the fourth line wasn’t enough, in coach Gerard Gallant’s mind, to get his point across.

So Gallant took a more drastic step when he decided to make Lafrenière a healthy scratch for Thursday night’s game against the Lightning.

“Consistency is the word I mentioned before and yesterday a little bit, and we want him to be better,’’ Gallant said at the morning skate of Lafrenière. “He wants to be better. We want him to be better, and just be more consistent in your game.’’

“It always [stinks] to be out of the lineup,’’ Lafrenière said. “For sure you want to play. But I’ll try to get better in practices, get better with coaches, and try to look at [video] clips and see what I can improve to be a better player.’’

It is the second time Gallant has scratched Lafrenière. He sat him for a game in Philadelphia last April and it worked out that time; Lafrenière scored two goals in his return to the lineup the next game against Detroit. After that, he was one of the Rangers’ better forwards the rest of the season and into the playoffs.

Naturally, the 21-year-old is hoping he’ll be able to do something similar this time.

“Yeah, hopefully,’’ he said. “A little bit like last year, the second half and the playoffs were good for me, so I’ll just try to do that again this year and play better hockey.’’

Lafrenière has five goals and 12 assists in 36 games this season, but lately he has been less than forceful on the ice. After the Rangers lost to Washington, 4-0, on Tuesday in their first game after the Christmas break, Gallant was disappointed in his team’s performance, calling it “garbage.’’ The next day at practice, he changed the forward lines and skated his team hard.

Lafrenière was one of four players on the fourth line in that practice, which made news. On Thursday, he said he understood that being one of four on a line meant there was a chance he might be scratched.

“There’s one guy that’s not playing, so it can be one of the four,’’ he said. “And it was me. But it’s fine. I had a good practice this morning and hopefully I’ll be back soon.’’

The third-year forward said he hasn’t had discussions with the coaching staff about specific things that he needs to do better. It’s been more general conversations about being more consistent, he said. As to how he can be more consistent, that, he said, is the tricky part.

“I think it’s tough, as a pretty young player in the league,’’ he said. “You always want to play ‘A’ games every night, but it’s, I think, just showing up to the rink mentally ready every game. And even if one day you’re a little more tired, or the legs are not feeling too good, just try to keep it simple and come back to your game.’’

Asked what specific details he thinks he needs to improve, Lafrenière said he needs to be better in the defensive end at getting the puck off the boards and out of the zone when the Rangers are under pressure in their own end. He also said he needs to be better both without the puck and with it.

“Just knowing when to make plays, and when to be smart with [the puck] and put it deep,’’ he said. “Trying to find a good balance in my game.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.