Rangers’ Head Coach Hints Matt Rempe May Not Play Again.
The New York Rangers eventually moved on from Matt Rempe in the 3-2 overtime win in Game 3 of their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, after scarcely featuring him in the previous two games.
Rempe had only played 11:09 of a potential 147:24 minutes in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette replaced Rempe in Game 3 with Filip Chytil, who had been out for months due to an injury.
Laviolette discussed the alteration following his team’s overtime win, which puts them up 3-0 in the series heading into Game 4, hinting Rempe might not play again.
“We don’t have to change anymore,” Laviolette told reporters following Game 3.
“[Chytil] has been working really hard,” Laviolette stated of the returning player. “He attacked every day to get to that point. We all agreed that the time had come and was approaching.
“We needed to maximize the bench as much as possible. This was an excellent opportunity for him to return to the lineup, and I believe he improved as the game progressed.
Rangers take a commanding 3-0 series lead with Filip Chytil back.
On Thursday, May 9, the Rangers’ game against the Hurricanes went into overtime for the second time in a row. New York once again scored the game-winning goal.
This match, however, saw a change when the Rangers brought back forward Chytil. To make way for Chytil, New York scratched rookie Rempe on Thursday.
Chytil has been working with his teammates for about a month after returning to practice in mid-April, but he has not played since November 2, 2023, when he suffered an upper-body injury that was diagnosed as a concussion against the Hurricanes.
“This team is unbelievable,” Chytil told reporters after the game on May 9, via MSG Networks. “They did well without me for the entire season, but I know we can do even better with me.
Chytil played 12:02 minutes in his debut appearance after being out of the lineup for more than six months, outplaying Rempe in the first two games of the series (including a double-overtime contest in Game 2).
Matt Rempe Could Become a Consistent Healthy Scratch.
Before the start of the postseason, Laviolette informed media on April 18 that he would not speak on lineup decisions between games to prevent giving his opponents an advantage.
In fact, the Rangers coach did not announce Chytil’s return to the lineup, and no one was aware of it until pregame warmups.
Chytil played on the left flank of the third line, with Alexander Wennberg in the center and Kaapo Kakko on the right. Will Cuylle, a rookie, went to the fourth line alongside Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey, while Rempe was benched.
After not playing a single second in any of the third periods of Games 1 and 2, it’s reasonable to believe that New York will keep Rempe out of the lineup while inserting Chytil for the remainder of the series against the Hurricanes, if not the entire playoffs.
Last season, Chytil has 45 regular-season points. This year, however, he managed only 6 points in 10 games before being held out until his postseason debut on May 9.
