The New York Rangers are set to face off with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time already in the 2026-27 season.
In the first matchup, the Rangers dominated their Eastern Conference foe, winning 5-1 in their home opener at Madison Square Garden. They will be looking to repeat that performance, but will have to do so without Igor Shesterkin in goal.
He suffered a season-ending lower-body injury, which has thrust Dylan Garand into the No. 1 goalie role. Alas, that isn’t the only change the team is making in the rematch with Tampa Bay, albeit this one isn’t injury-driven.
As shared by Vince. Z Mercogliano of The Athletic on X, based on the morning skate, New York is making a change to their lineup. Matt Rempe is going to be back in the lineup, taking the place of Jaroslav Chmelar.
Rempe, an intimidating presence standing 6-foot-9, has been an active scratch in all but one game this season. He was in the lineup on opening night against the Boston Bruins, recording 9:49 of ice time with one shot on goal and six hits.
The Lightning are a physical team that isn’t afraid to play through the whistle, so having someone with Rempe’s strengths in the lineup makes sense. Chmelar also hasn’t been making much of an impact thus far.
In six games, he has averaged only 8:11 of ice time, and he has yet to record a point. He only has seven shot attempts overall, with three shots on goal, to go along with 11 hits.
Rempe is being inserted into the fourth line as the right wing, opposite of Oliver Bjorkstrand, with top prospect Cole Beaudoin down the middle at center. He has assumed that spot with Joe Veleno dealing with a lower-body injury and being on IR.
The rest of the lineup looks the same as it was against the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-2 win on Oct. 11. Head coach Mike Sullivan made a change, elevating Pavel Dorofeyev to the first line as the right winger with Gabe Perreault on the left and Mika Zibanejad at center.
That moved Alexis Lafreniere to the second line with J.T. Miller at center and Tye Kartye at left wing. Lafreniere kept up his hot streak, scoring one goal and handing out one assist after the change.
The third line remains Will Cuylle at left wing, Noah Laba at center and Eeli Tolvanen at right wing, the only trio that has remained virtually untouched through the early portion of the season.
The defensive pairings remain the same, with Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov at No. 1, Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi at No. 2, and Alberts Smits and Braden Schneider at No. 3.
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