Welcome To Rangers: Rangers coach Peter Laviolette Announced The New Signing….
The treatment of Matt Rempe by officials continued to draw attention in Game 1 of the second round, and Rangers coach Peter Laviolette tried his best before Tuesday night’s Game 2 against Carolina to toe the line between acknowledging the 6-foot-8 ½ big man is getting officiated differently without dipping into territory that might draw a fine from the league.
“I think he’s a guy that gets eyes on him for sure,” Laviolette said. “Just the size of him and the way he plays the game. I can’t think of a guy who’s had such a big impact in his introduction into the National Hockey League. There was a lot that was surrounding his presence. I think the eyes get drawn to him.
“I know the game happens quickly as well. We go back, and I’ve said this before, even the hit where it did cross a line, we go back and we teach him about the game. We teach him about hitting, when to fight, when not to fight. We talk to him about systems. He’s a young player. He’s done a really good job for us inside of that. So I do think eyes are on him just because of his size a little bit, but I know that the game happens pretty fast and decisions are made quick out there.”
Rangers rookie Matt Rempe is sent to the penalty box during Game 1 against the Hurricanes on Sunday.
NHLI via Getty Images
Rempe’s Game 1 did not come with any hits that caused controversy, but he took a first-period penalty for interfering with Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen that certainly looked as though Rempe was pushed into the netminder.
It’s not the first time in these playoffs that referees have looked on Rempe with some extra scrutiny, which makes sense given he spent nearly as much time in the penalty box this season (71 minutes) as he did on the ice (95 minutes).
The Rangers did not make Rempe available pregame, even though he participated in an optional morning skate.
Matt Rempe reacts on the Rangers bench during Game 1 against the Hurricanes.
Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post
When Vincent Trocheck stuffed home a loose puck at 7:34 in the second overtime late Tuesday evening, Madison Square Garden erupted in jubilee and relief. The goal capped a tight game that saw several ferocious offensive pushes from the Carolina Hurricanes, a pair of goals from the Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere and the Hurricanes’ Jake Guentzel, and tremendous goaltending at both ends of the ice. In the end, it was Igor Sheterkin and the Rangers who stood just a little taller, remaining unbeaten in the 2024 playoffs and taking a 2-0 series lead.
After the game, Trocheck was measured in his responses to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, citing “a long way to go” in the series. The comment is emblematic of how the Rangers have approached much of the season. As a team that has spent time on and off the collective radar this season despite winning the President’s trophy, keeping an even keel and an eye on the ultimate prize has paid dividends. The Rangers are no strangers to playoff reversals of fortune, having lost in the first round of the 2023 playoffs after going up 2-0 against the New Jersey Devils. And the Carolina Hurricanes are not the Washington Capitals of the first round, either. Given those factors, the reserve shown by Trocheck and the rest of the Rangers was reassuring, if a little unsatisfying.
Special teams were, once again, the difference in this one, with Trocheck’s winning goal coming on the power play, one of two power-play goals for the Rangers last night. On the flip side, the Hurricanes remain mired in a power-play slump, surely impacted by the Rangers’ high-pressure penalty kill unit, but also seemingly out of sorts on their own. Most of their offensive zone time has been spent rimming the puck around the boards, with little ability to get the puck to the dangerous areas of the ice. This level of futility is unlikely to continue for one of the NHL’s best regular-season power-play units, so it would behoove the Rangers to manage their chippiness and take fewer penalties.
With the old adage that “it’s not a series until the home team loses” occupying much of Rangers’ fans psyche after game two, the series heads to Raleigh on Thursday, where the Hurricanes have a significantly better playoff record than on the road. Having the home team’s ability to change lines last will allow coach Rod Brind’Amour to create advantageous matchups, perhaps getting the Guentzel, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnekov line against the Lafreniere, Trocheck, Artemi Panarin line, which struggled at times with their defensive assignments against Carolina’s most dynamic scorers.
Regardless, for the Rangers, things could not have gone better so far this post-season. The only question, it seems, is the fate of Matt Rempe in the lineup. While he has played (and impacted) every post-season game for the Rangers, his ice time has been limited, and especially limited in third periods. Last night, he played just over four minutes. With a healthy Filip Chytil and the speedy Jonny Brodzinski waiting in the wings, we’ll see if Peter Laviolette decides to make a change. It is hard to believe, however, that he would tinker with a winning formula. As Trocheck said post-game, however, there is indeed a long way to go. And the Carolina Hurricanes are the real deal. They are big, fast, well-coached and hungry. For the Rangers, staying focused will be the key to closing them out…that and Igor Shesterkin.
