MONTREAL — Matt Lempe is in the midst of his first overtime game of the season, making his sixth consecutive appearance in the Rangers' 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens on Sunday night at the Bell Center.
The 6-foot-8 and a half forward played in extremely limited playing time after receiving an eight-game suspension for boarding and elbowing Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Dec. 20. , played a simple and straightforward match.
Head coach Peter Laviolette capped Lempe on TOI at 5:33 against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday and 5:51 against the Blue Jackets on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, before capping the Rangers' rookie. He was appointed on Sunday at 7:18 p.m.
That included zero shifts in the third period against Utah, only one shift against Columbus, and then four shifts at Bell Center.
Lempe, 22, had no infractions in his previous five games, but was called for disorderly conduct and dropping a glove in a match against Montreal's Arbor Shekaj.
It's clear that Lempe still has the confidence of the coaching staff.
“I think he did a good job,” Laviolette said before the game. “He's active on the forecheck and plays responsible defense. Some of the decisions I make are based on the game and what we need to do to win and score goals. Yes, I'll make some changes on the bench, but it's not about him and his game, it's more about me. He's back and giving us positive minutes and positive energy. I think it gave me that.”
Lempe spent most of November and the first half of December in Hartford, where he had an adjustment period before beginning his expanded role with the Wolfpack.
After going scoreless through the first six games of the AHL season and finishing with a total of minus-five games, Rempe said he needs to step up his conditioning as he is not used to spending time on the ice.
Averaging about 18 minutes a night, Lempe felt his game improved significantly over his final month with the Wolf Pack.
Lempe expected his ice time to be more familiar when he returned to the NHL level, and he was right.
This gave him a lot more energy per shift, which he said when he first returned, and that was his biggest struggle early this season in Hartford.
“Winning is number one,” Laviolette said of how he balances doing what he thinks is necessary to win and keeping Rempe involved in his development. “We're going to do what we have to do to be successful. That's exactly how the last few games have played out. We're chasing the game or we need to score. We have 80 points on the bench, We have a 100-point player. We're working to get him out there.”
The Rangers, who built a 2-1 lead by the first intermission, had the advantage despite recording just five shots on goal in the first 20 minutes Sunday night.
Homegrown Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring for the Rangers, hitting a long shot from Quandre Miller that bounced off the wall and went over the Canadiens' net. He surpassed Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes (23 saves).
Brendan Gallagher then converted Christian Dvorak's shot off his stick to tie the game.
It took the Blueshirts 46 seconds to regain the lead, however, when Will Quill took the puck off Mika Zibanejad's forecheck and hit it with his glove side.
The Rangers will have the day off starting Monday and are scheduled to return Tuesday against the Senators at Madison Square Garden.
Tuesday marks the beginning of a four-game homestand for the Blueshirts.
