Switch to wing likely one-time thing for Smith

MONTREAL — Ron Harris was effective at it for the Emile Francis Rangers, Jason Strudwick did a nice job of it playing for Tom Renney, and Stu Bickel had his moments when John Tortorella moved him up from the blue line to fill in at right wing.

Add Brendan Smith to the franchise’s hybrid equation after the defenseman served at right wing for the first two periods of Thursday’s 3-0 defeat in Ottawa, but he likely won’t shuttle back and forth as did that trio. David Quinn dressed a lineup that featured seven defensemen for the second time, and the first time since Game 3 at Carolina.

“It was a weird dynamic, it seemed like it was chaos,” said Smith, who reported he had played up front twice through his 291 games with the Red Wings. “We were chasing the puck. I was just buzzing, skating up and down.”

Smith took 10 shifts for 7:13 skating with Tim Gettinger on the left and Steven Fogarty in the middle, though the wingers switched sides liberally. Smith returned to the backline in the third period in the wake of Kevin Shattenkirk’s benching. He will partner with Brady Skjei against the Canadiens on Saturday night.

“I didn’t feel out of place,” said Smith, who was a forward through age 16 and skated on a line with John Tavares and Sam Gagner for their Triple-A team in Toronto. “It would have been nice to have the puck, though.” There was another Rangers defenseman who played forward, albeit for one game and one game only. That was Brian Leetch, moved to left wing by coach John Muckler to essentially shadow the Panthers’

Pavel Bure in the Blueshirts’ Feb. 16, 2000 match at Florida. The Rangers, who tried a left-wing lock, lost 3-0. Bure scored, but Jan Hlavac was on at left wing, unable to change for Leetch when the Russian Rocket jumped onto the ice.

Vinni Lettieri, dispatched to the AHL Wolf Pack on Nov. 18 following an opening 14-game Rangers run in which he failed to record a point while getting 8:54 of ice per game, has earned his way back. The winger was recalled Friday to fill the 12th forward position after scoring three goals while adding two assists in four games with Hartford. Lettieri is slated to play with Gattinger and Fogarty, recent AHL grads.

Alexandar Georgiev will make his seventh start with the Rangers in the midst of playing three games in four nights and with the Jets at the Garden on Sunday for Vic Hadfield Night.