Matt Rempe gets it done with goal, fists as youngster continues to be Rangers spark

Picture this: Matt Rempe gets the puck on his stick skating full speed at Senators goalie Anton Forsberg.His linemate Adam Edstrom had passed the puck off the wall to himself before chipping it to Rempe in the middle streaking down Broadway inside a rumbling Madison Square Garden.For a moment, time slowed down as the 6-foot-8 ½ forward finessed the puck to his backhand before burying without hesitation for a three-goal lead on the way to the Rangers’ 5-0 drubbing of the Senators on Tuesday night.“It’s pretty exciting, me and Eddy — one of my best buddies — to connect like that,” Rempe said.“I think that we’ve been playing really well together.

I think we just keep it going.”Tuesday night was Rempe’s seventh straight appearance after serving an eight-game suspension for elbowing/boarding Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.The Rangers are 5-0-2 over that span.While there’s so much more that has gone into the Rangers’ turnaround, it would be negligent not to acknowledge how Rempe’s presence has factored into it.The fourth line, of Rempe, Edstrom and Sam Carrick, outshot the Senators 6-1 when they were on the ice.This in addition to owning a 3-1 edge in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.“I think I can bring a lot of physicality, but I think I can make plays with the puck and use my body and speed, be good defensively,” said Rempe, who has a goal and assist on the season.

“I’ve been working a lot on my plays with the puck and I think the more I work the more comfortable I get, the more I can make plays.“Take a breath out there, try to find the next pass, try to continue O-zone sequences and I think I can do that.”Head coach Peter Laviolette credited Rempe with the poise he showed to score the goal he did.When it came down to needing a physical deterrent, however, Rempe was present and accounted for.A big scuffle broke out in the third period after Brady Tkachuk barreled into Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, who seem...