Matt Rempe was back in the Rangers lineup for their 4-1 win over the Lightning on Tuesday evening, after the 6-foot-9 ahead served as a healthy scratch in six straight video games following the season-opening loss in Boston.
Replacing Jaroslav Chmelar on the proper wing of the fourth line, Rempe and the relaxation of his linemates saw a restricted alternative because head coach Mike Sullivan cut his bench down late in the sport.
The 24-year-old still managed to drop the gloves with the Lightning’s Jeff Viel.
“He obviously had a solid game for us,” Sullivan said of Rempe (3:43 ice time) after the Blueshirts remained undefeated on home ice. “He didn’t get a entire lot of minutes. Our fourth line didn’t get a lot of minutes tonight. It was the nature of how the sport advanced. My intention going into the sport was to get them more minutes than they did. I don’t think that’s something that we’re going to look to do on a common, constant foundation. It was just how the sport advanced and trying for certain matchups.
“You sprinkle in some of the power plays and the penalty kills and defending the lead down the stretch. There were a lot of factors for that reason, but in the short minutes that Remps played, he made an impact.”
Sullivan has indicated that dressing Chmelar or Rempe would be a game-to-game choice, but the former had gotten a stretch of video games amid the Rangers’ 5-1 run after their shutout loss in Boston.
Still, Chmelar was half of the dominant victory over the Lightning in their home opener.
Rempe, who missed most of last season due to two thumb surgical procedures, would have to go through waivers in order to be assigned to Hartford. The Rangers seemingly don’t need him to sit for too long, but Sullivan has also claimed the personnel swap would be based mostly on opponent matchups as effectively.
After his first official sport back on Sept. 29, Rempe said his thumb felt 100%.
“It was a lot of fun,” Rempe advised The Post before he watched Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending harm from the press box in Washington. “Obviously, not the greatest result in the game, but I felt good. I felt good. Seeing good. Physically, felt strong. Felt like myself again. So I was happy.”
With only one objective through his first eight video games as a Ranger, Pavel Dorofeyev was requested if he was feeling strain to contribute more.
“No, not really,” he said. “I’m not focused on that stuff at all. Just trying to be myself and trying to help the team win the games. Sometimes you just have to play another way. It’s not always [about] the goals.”
Sullivan has opted to swap Dorofeyev with Gabe Perreault on the prime power-play unit when the veteran head coach feels the group wants a enhance.
After doing so against Vancouver, Sullivan did it again Tuesday evening against the Lightning.
The Rangers energy play wasn’t in a position to convert on any of their 4 alternatives.
The Rangers are scheduled to follow Wednesday before they return to sport motion in Newark on Thursday against the Devils.
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