Rempe more than just skilless brawler
THE PUCK was in for Matt Rempe in the second period of Saturday’s Garden matchup against the Blues the same way the puck was in for Martin Gelinas late in the third period of Game 6 of the 2004 Cup final, which is to say that a goal was not awarded to the Blueshirts rookie any more than it was to the Calgary winger.
Because while it sure looked like Rempe’s shot crossed the goal line at 7:39 before nestling in an uncertain position, the verdict following video review was that the puck did not entirely cross the line and that there was no goal. The same verdict was rendered two decades ago.
Then, it deprived the Flames of winning the Stan- ley Cup with the Lightning staying alive in double overtime before taking Game 7 at home to capture the chalice. Now, the decision means that Rempe will have to wait for his first NHL goal. A difference with a huge distinction. It was another Rempe night on Broadway in this crisp 4-0 victory over the Blues in this first post-deadline outing against a club playing out the string. The Rangers outskated and outworked their opponents. They went to the net with impunity and moved the puck crisply. They played fast and when they did break down, Igor Shesterkin played with his customary post-All-Star brilliance.
If you need to know how long the hockey season is, it is so long that at one point folks who are learned enough to know better were talking about the Rangers’ goaltending controversy.
This was the first look at how head coach Peter Laviolette will deploy his bottom six. Unless something unforeseen develops, Jack Roslovic will complete the Mika Zibanejad-Chris Kreider connection while the Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere unit will remain intact.
That’s pretty straightforward, even if Laviolette might mix it up here and there as the club moves into the playoff-dress-rehearsals portion of the schedule.
But Laviolette has options with the bottom six both in line construction and apportionment of ice time. He needs to find out whether he has a four-unit rotation on which he can rely in the postseason so that the club won’t be obligated to double-shift the top six through a best-ofseven that always takes its toll.
Alex Wennberg skated between Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko on the third line while Rempe skated on the left with Barclay Goodrow in the middle and Jimmy Vesey on the right and, lo and behold, on a night when the opposition did not have a marquee first line that needed to be marked, the Goodrow line was within 30 seconds of ice time of the Wennberg unit.
Folks across the continent who catch the clips seem to think of Rempe as a large empty vessel who is being used for entertainment value and will be discarded and thrown away as soon as his 15 minutes are up. But Rempe was not recalled by the Rangers to be a burlesque act. He is not here to be a Ryan Reaves clone.
Rather, the 21-year-old was summoned to bring some attitude to the mix, to get in on the forecheck, clear out space for his teammates and to bring a dimension that the franchise has been forever lacking and that’s a reference to more than the young man’s height of 6-foot-8 ¹/ ₂.
Rempe and his line dominated over 8:28 of ice time with an expected goal share of a rather absurd 89.88 percent. No. 73 worked below the hash marks. His line worked below the hash marks while establishing a huge territorial advantage. Vesey scored on a semibreakaway on a beautiful headman feed from Goodrow while Rempe drove the net on the right side as No. 26 whipped one through Jordan Binnington for a 2-0 lead in the final minute of the first period.
The trio kept the pressure on all night. They were strong with and without the puck. Fans alternated chanting “Rempe! Rempe!” and “Igor! Igor!”
And with his team holding the 4-0 lead while on the power play as the third period ticked down, Laviolette sent Rempe out on the power play for 37 seconds with the man advantage to try to get the big guy his cookie.
That’s what kind of a night it was.