Is it Matt Rempe time? Rangers roster decisions, Panthers' Niko Mikkola defends hit, more East notes (2024)

NEW YORK — Heading into their series against the Florida Panthers, the New York Rangers had yet to face a series deficit in these playoffs. After a 3-0 loss in Game 1 on Wednesday, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette has to show how he’ll react to one.

If the coach wants to respond by making a lineup change, he’ll have options. The Rangers have as many players available as they have all season.

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Of the Rangers scratches Wednesday, Matt Rempe has played the most games (seven) this postseason. The 21-year-old is a fan favorite for his bruising style, but he has averaged only 6:19 of ice time in his playoff games, and Laviolette hasn’t trusted him late in close contests. During a double-overtime win in Game 2 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes, Rempe’s last shift came in the second period. He sat more than two full periods on the bench.

If Laviolette does bring the young forward into the fold, it will likely be an attempt to give the Rangers — and their home crowd — a jolt of energy, as Hall of Famer and former Rangers captain Mark Messier speculated it could on ESPN during the second intermission Wednesday.

The forward and his 6-foot-8 frame would also bring added physicality against a tough Florida team. Despite the Panthers’ chippiness, Laviolette found most of Game 1 was played between the whistles.

“It was fairly clean,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of scrums going on out there. They had some hits on us. I thought we had some hits on them. But not a ridiculous number of hits (either way).”

There was, however, a last-second Niko Mikkola hit on former teammate Filip Chytil, which we will get to in a moment. Laviolette told reporters after the game that Chytil was fine. Asked again about the forward Thursday, he said he had “nothing to report” in regards to the lineup. That shouldn’t come as a shock; Laviolette has been cagey with lineup details all postseason.

Blake Wheeler, who hasn’t played since a gruesome leg injury in February, could also draw in. He had the lowest point production of his career (nine goals, 21 points) but brings size (6-foot-5) and experience (1,172 career games). Wheeler played most of his minutes with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad in the regular season. The Rangers outscored opponents 17-12 with that line on the ice at five-on-five in the regular season, though they trailed in expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.

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Mikkola defends hit on Chytil

Mikkola, who played for the Rangers last season, on Thursday defended finishing his check on Chytil with five seconds left in a game that was effectively over.

Rangers fans were upset there was no response for what they deemed to be a needless hit on a young player skating in only his second playoff game since missing most of the season due to his latest suspected concussion.

Niko Mikkola hammered Filip Chytil into the boards in the final seconds of regulation#TimeToHunt | #NYR pic.twitter.com/sVUBFGcdOa
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 23, 2024

Mikkola indicated he was just trying to help Sergei Bobrovsky complete his shutout.

“It was a normal play, a normal hit,” Mikkola said.

Blame for the own goal

Lafrenière’s own goal was a lowlight for the Rangers in Game 1, but both Laviolette and teammates who spoke after the game emphasized that the play was simply a bad break.

“Everyone’s probably been in that situation,” captain Jacob Trouba said. “Every defenseman has. Just a tough bounce. Obviously not what he was trying to do. It’s nothing to even worry about. It should be out of his head already.”

Added Laviolette: “He’s trying to do the right thing. It’s a tough bounce.”

a very unlucky own goal for the Rangers pic.twitter.com/EAo53voHlQ
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 23, 2024

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is partly responsible for the misstep, too. He left his crease to play the puck shortly before the goal, and when he tried to clear it off the boards it bounced right at Carter Verhaeghe’s feet. Verhaeghe tried to pass to a cutting Tkachuk, and the puck went off Lafrenière’s stick and into his own net.

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Shesterkin is elite at playing the puck, but his aggression comes with risk. The own goal is a prime example.

Lomberg’s Game 1 impact

Through no fault of his own, Ryan Lomberg didn’t play the last four games of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning or the first five games of their second-round series against the Boston Bruins.

But after Lomberg and Nick Cousins re-entered Florida’s lineup in the second-round series-clinching Game 6 following a Game 5 loss, coach Paul Maurice naturally went with the same fourth line — Lomberg, Kevin Stenlund and Cousins — to open the Rangers series.

That fourth line provided the Panthers with energy, offensive-zone time and momentum-building shifts throughout Wednesday’s win.

“It might be the best game I’ve seen Ryan Lomberg play,” Maurice said. “They didn’t score, so it’s not that, but the technical parts of his game — the energy is always there, the physicality is always there, but those guys were sharp and on pucks.”

Lomberg got sick after the Game 1 win against the Lightning. Steven Lorentz and Kyle Okposo entered the lineup and were part of a line that scored two huge goals, and the Panthers then kept winning. Lorentz was outstanding in the Game 2 win over the Bruins, and Okposo was solid in the first four games.

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So Lomberg had to bide his time and be patient before getting back into the lineup.

It had to be excruciating watching this time of year.

But, Lomberg said, “The boys made it easier on me winning a bunch of those games. It’s unfortunately kind of been the M.O. of my career, (being) in and out. So when it happened, I just dealt with it the way I usually do, which is stay positive and work as hard as I can.”

Lomberg was physical throughout Game 1, played fast and even blocked a heavy shot he had no reason to in the waning moments.

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Maurice gives Lomberg credit.

“Ryan’s been here a long time,” Maurice said of the 29-year-old, who’s in his fourth season with the Panthers. “He’s part of the fabric so it was possibly more personal in some ways for him especially to be missing out right when you can finish the Tampa series. But he got back in and got to be a part of it. Maybe it doesn’t feel good, but (he) understands.”

Stenlund has been the one fourth-line constant in the playoffs, and Maurice says it’s been difficult alternating Lomberg, Cousins, Lorentz and Okposo around him.

“There’s a competition for the fourth one until the playoffs, and then they’re competing together,” Maurice said.

Panthers expect Rangers’ best

Maurice thought that after the Panthers won Game 1 against Tampa Bay, they got the Lightning’s best in Game 2. And after Boston won Game 1, the Bruins got the Panthers’ best in Game 2.

“So we will assume then that the loser of Game 1 plays their best game in Game 2,” Maurice said. “We’re gonna have to be that good (Friday). They’re going to be going and they’ll be fast.”

The Panthers stuck with their playoff off-day routine Thursday, where only players who didn’t play Game 1 skating at Chelsea Piers. The rest of the group did the team’s recovery program.

Panthers players had to get up and have breakfast. Then they split in half.

“We do a medical portion where they’ll run through the trainers to make sure their bodies are working right,” Maurice said. “Then the team-performance guys do a recovery deal. The coaches will just stay here and grind video. We’ll do one video meeting. It’s pouring rain, so it’s good reason to stay inside.”

The players also have a hotel lounge where they get together to play poker and other games and plan to watch Game 1 of the Western Conference final Thursday night.

(Photo of Matt Rempe: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)