The Panthers have a pretty good idea of what’s coming in Friday night’s Game 2 at the Garden: A desperate Rangers physical onslaught that very well may include their 6-foot-8½ rough-and-tumble rookie Matt Rempe.
Rempe was a healthy scratch for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, a 3-0 Rangers loss Wednesday night in which they lacked urgency and physicality.
Despite many calls for Rempe to be active in Game 2, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, on Friday morning after his team’s game-day skate, was coy about his lineup — as he always is.
At the Garden, where the Panthers conducted their morning skate, they reacted to Rempe potentially being inserted into the lineup with what amounted to shrugged shoulders.
The Cats weren’t thumping their collective chests saying, “Bring it on,’’ but their attitude was close to that — even though the Rangers’ record with Rempe in the lineup is 20-3-1.
Asked what Rempe might bring to the series if he’s active for the game, Panthers center Kevin Stenlund said, “Hits.’’
“But it doesn’t matter to us if he’s in there or not if they change their lineup; we’ve just got to focus on our group,’’ Stenlund said.
“If they want to switch up the lineup, obviously (Rempe) brings energy to them,’’ Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. “He brings physicality. He’s obviously a big player who gets on the forecheck and plays physical.
“Obviously, if he’s in the lineup it’s clear what their mindset is — to get to the body,’’ Montour went on. “If he’s in, he’s in. If he’s not, he’s not. It’s not going to affect us and what our game plan is. We’re focused on what we’ve got in here.’’
Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe, one of the Florida goal scorers Wednesday thanks to Alexis Lafreniere’s inadvertent own-goal tip-in through Igor Shesterkin’s legs, said he knows the exact desired affect the Rangers would be seeking with Rempe on the ice.
“The crowd certainly loves him,’’ Verhaeghe said. “He’s a big, physical player. You’ve got to be aware of him when he’s on the ice. But other than that, we’re going to play our game. We’re going to continue to be physical, continue to be hard.
“Whatever players they have in their lineup it’s not going to change our game.’’
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Rangers in the NHL playoffs
Panthers center Anton Lundell echoed the sentiments of his teammates.
“He’s a big player, a physical player and obviously is going to bring that that to the game,’’ Lundell said. “Other than that, I think I think we just want to play our own game and our own system.’’
To a man, the Panthers players and head coach Paul Maurice shrugged off the crunching hit against the boards Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola laid on Rangers center Filip Chytil with less than five seconds remaining in Wednesday night’s game.
In fact, they were borderline defiant in defending Mikkola for the needless hit.
“It’s clean,’’ Maurice said matter-of-factly. “There was nothing. It was clean. (Chytil) had the puck. That’s gonna happen. He could have dumped the puck and that (hit) wouldn’t have happened. I don’t know why you would keep the puck there.
“If we have the puck, we’re gonna get hit. If they have the puck, they’re gonna get hit. It’s the conference finals. The game’s over when it’s over.’’
Asked if he expected a response from the Rangers in Game 2 for the Mikkola hit, Verhaeghe said, “(Chytil) is trying to score a goal in a 3-0 game with five seconds left. It’s as clean of a hit as I’ve seen. I don’t think so.’’
Montour said, “I think if there was going to be a response it would probably have been right then. Maybe they try to find an area in the game where they can get a lick on him, but if there was going to be something it would have been (Wednesday).
“The game was still playing and we wanted to make a hard play to finish the game. It is what it is.’’
Stenlund summed up the Panthers expectations for Game 2 this way: “I’m sure they’re going to hit and we’re going to hit, so it’s going to be a fun game.’’
Read more
