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 his play during his 16 AHL games 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 at Monday's morning skate as the Rangers prepared to face the Blues at the Garden. “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 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.”

The Rangers also made more changes prior to the half-hour skate, recalling Matt Rempe from Hartford as Chris Kreider is sidelined 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), which is why he was on the top line with Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad and skated on the second power-play unit Monday 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 cures for the Rangers’ ills and should not be viewed as such.

After beginning the season 5-0-1, the Rangers (12-6-1) entered Monday night 7-6-0 in their last 13 games.

In that season-opening six-game window, the Rangers outscored their opponents 31-12 due in part to strong special-teams play. The man-up units were converting at a rate of 31.6%, while the man-down units had successfully killed 86.4% of power plays. Moreover, according to NHL analytics website NaturalStatTrick.com, the Rangers were playing well at even strength as they generated 54.3% of the shots and 74.07% of the goals over that span.

But beginning with their 3-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers on Oct. 24 at the Garden, the offense has stalled. The Rangers have been outscored 38-34 and the power play is converting at just 16.7%. At even strength, they have generated significantly fewer shots, and as a result, their goals for percentage is 47.17%.

This is not a new phenomenon.

During a 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 during the 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.”

Kakko to center

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

Prior to being moved to the middle during the losses in Calgary and Edmonton, Kakko last played center in Finland.

“It’s been awhile,” Kakko said. “It’s kind of a challenge."