Rangers hoping call-up Brett Berard brings the same energy he showed in Hartford

GREENBURGH –- The changes, Peter Laviolette stressed, were fully meritorious.

In the case of Brett Berard, the promotion to the Rangers’ roster was based on his body of work in training camp and over the course of the still-early AHL season in Hartford.

For the regulars, though, two subpar games in Calgary and Edmonton – as part of a larger trend – prompted the need to reconfigure the lineup.

“We got to play a faster game,” Laviolette said following Monday's morning skate at the MSG Training Center before the game at the Garden against the Blues. “Some of that is the way we play the game. Some of it is our engine. We got to kick up gears.”

To that end, the Rangers recalled Berard from AHL Hartford on Sunday afternoon, with defensemen Victor Mancini and Chad Ruhwedel being reassigned to the Wolfpack.

“Play my game fast, hard and just do what I do,” Berard said, when asked what instructions he received from Laviolette and general manager Chris Drury. “Bring the energy I play with to the team.”

There were more changes prior to the half-hour skate, as Matt Rempe was recalled from Hartford with Chris Kreider being out with an upper-body injury. Rempe, who was not at the skate, was going to replace Jonny Brodzinski on the fourth line to start the game, according to Laviolette.

“He’s playing well down there,” Laviolette said. “He brings some size, some physicality. I feel like we could be a little bit more physical, a little bit more speed.”

Those also are attributes Berard possesses, along with an ability to generate offense. Berard leads the Wolfpack with 13 points (seven goals and six assists) in 16 games, which is why he was on the top line with Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad, and skated on the second power play unit in the morning.

“We like the way he plays the game,” Laviolette said. “He does bring certain things. He’s in-your-face. He’s in the battles in the corners and in front of the net. He plays a fast style. He gets in there.”

Still, the call-up of the two 22-year-olds are not panaceas for the Rangers’ ills and should not be viewed as such.

Entering Monday night’s match, the Rangers (12-6-1) have gone 7-6-0 in their last 13 games. The Rangers began the season with a 5-0-1 mark.

In that season-opening six-game window, the Rangers outscored opponents, 31-12, due in part to strong special teams play. The man-up units were converting at 31.6%, while the penalty kill had successfully killed 86.4% of power plays.

Moreover, according to data culled from NaturalStatTrick.com, the Rangers were playing well at even strength as they generated 54.3% of the shots and 74.07% of the goals in that period.

But beginning with the 3-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers at the Garden 32 days ago, the offense has stalled. The Rangers have been outscored, 38-34, and the power play is converting at 16.7%. At even strength, the Rangers have generated significantly fewer shots (354-293), and as a result, their goals for percentage is 47.17%

This is not a new phenomenon.

During a 52-day, 25-game span between Dec. 5, 2023, and Jan. 26, the Rangers were outscored, 79-74, including 60-46 at even strength, and went 11-12-2. The biggest difference between that iteration of the Rangers and this one is that the power play had a 25.6% success rate in that period.

“We’ve got to come up more on the attack. We’ve got to do things that set our game up better offensively,” Laviolette said. “Just the hunt in the offensive zone. More people to the nets. More pucks to the net. All of that can be better.”

Particularly irksome for him was the way the Rangers played in Saturday night’s 6-2 loss to the Oilers.

“I didn’t think we played a game that was conducive to us staying in the offensive zone,” Laviolette said. “I thought we needed to play a better game against Edmonton.”

Kaapo Kakko to center

Without Filip Chytil (upper-body injury), Laviolette had Kaapo Kakko center the third line between Adam Edstrom and Reilly Smith to start the game.

“It’s been awhile,” Kakko said of playing center. Prior to being moved to the middle during the losses in Calgary and Edmonton, Kakko last played center in Finland. “It’s kind of a challenge."