Rangers Matt Rempe still earning trust from coaches with playing time limited

MONTREAL — Matt Rempe is in the midst of his first extended look of the season, skating in his sixth straight game in the Rangers’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens on Sunday night at Bell Center. After serving an eight-game suspension for boarding and elbowing Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Dec.20, the 6-foot-8 ½ forward has played a straightforward and simple game under extremely limited minutes. Head coach Peter Laviolette capped Rempe at 5:33 TOI against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday and 5:51 against the Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on Saturday before deploying the Rangers rookie for 7:18 Sunday night. That included zero shifts in the third period in Utah, just one against Columbus and then four at Bell Center. The 22-year-old hadn’t committed a single infraction in the previous five games, but Rempe was called for roughing and dropping the gloves with Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj. It’s clear Rempe is still earning the trust of the coaching staff. “I think he’s done a good job,” Laviolette said before the game.

“He gets in on the forecheck, responsible defensively.Some of the decisions I make are based more on the game and what we need to do to win and score goals.

I make some changes on the bench, but that’s more about me and not about him and his game.I think he’s come back and given us positive minutes and positive energy on the ice.” Rempe spent almost all of November and the first half of December in Hartford, where there was an adjustment period while he began his expanded role with the Wolf Pack. After going without a single point and finishing a combined minus-five through the first six games of his AHL season, Rempe said he had to up his conditioning because he wasn’t used to the amount of ice time he was receiving. Averaging around 18 minutes a night, Rempe felt his game had come a long way in his last month with the Wolf Pack. Rempe expected his ice time to be more what he’s used to when he got bac...