Rangers' Jack Roslovic impacts Game 2 victory with key power-play goal

Jack Roslovic hasn’t been a prolific goal-scorer in his NHL career, but when the Rangers were shopping at the trade deadline for a top-6 right wing to play with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, GM Chris Drury brought Roslovic in from the Columbus Blue Jackets to fill the spot.

“We think he's a real good player,’’ Drury said at the time. “I think he's going to be a nice fit in our group. You know, we looked at a lot of different situations -- varying price points. And this is a deal we felt the most comfortable making for a right wing.’’

Drury was believed to have been in on several big names that were available for rent at the March 8 deadline, but he opted not to spend what those bigger names were going to cost. Instead, he sent a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2026 to the Blue Jackets – who retained half of Roslovic’s $4 million cap hit – for the 27-year-old, who is actually from Columbus. The pick will become a third-rounder if the Rangers make it to the Stanley Cup final this year, and Roslovic plays in half their playoff games.

But Roslovic’s impact had been modest until he scored a power-play goal in Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 2, helping the Rangers take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round series.

He had three goals and five assists in 19 games at the end of the regular season, and notably was a healthy scratch against Montreal April 7, a move coach Peter Laviolette wrote off to being “just a rotation thing,’’ when he was trying to manage his roster by making sure all 13 forwards got to play some games down the stretch.

In Game 2, Roslovic, despite scoring the power-play goal that put the Rangers up, 3-2, late in the second period, played just nine minutes, 33 seconds, second-least on the team, ahead of only fourth-line rookie Matt Rempe, who played 7:34.

In the Rangers locker room after the game, Roslovic was asked how it felt to be rewarded for his efforts with a goal.

“It’s great to be helping the team in that way, but it’s just (part of the) job,’’ he said.

Laviolette explained Roslovic’s low ice time as merely a reflection of the fact there was so much power play and penalty-killing time in the game. Roslovic plays on the second power-play unit, which generally doesn’t get much time, and he doesn’t play on the penalty kill.

“He got an assist in the first game,’’ Laviolette said Wednesday, on a Zoom call, of Roslovic. “He bumped it up to Mika, Mika sent Kreids in on the breakaway (that made it 4-1). He’s on the second unit of the power play, which gets some time at the end. Not on the penalty kill rotation. And so, when you're rolling the four lines, there's just naturally some guys who are gonna get more minutes. It shouldn't necessarily be a reflection of, that there's not confidence in how (Roslovic) plays the game, or what he's able to contribute.

“He's played in two games. He's generated a couple of points for us, and I think he's played fine. He brings some speed, he brings some skill, and he's contributing.’’

Notes & quotes: The Rangers did not practice Wednesday. They will practice Thursday at their Westchester County facility before traveling to Washington, where Game 3 will be played Friday… Laviolette was asked if there was a reason why Adam Fox did not play in the final 4:54 Tuesday. “I'm not sure we got a change in the last 2:40,’’ he said. “Our guys got stuck out there for quite a bit. And so, I wouldn't read into that… We don't have anything to report on Adam.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.