Matt Rempe’s day started with him spinning a yarn about his off-day trip to a White Plains escape room with Adam Edstrom.
It ended some 13 hours later with him standing amidst a crowd in the Rangers’ locker room, talking about his reaction when Peter Laviolette called his name late in the 2-1 overtime victory over the Panthers.
“I heard Lavi call my name with two minutes left, I was like, ‘Oh man, let’s go. Jiminy Crickets, let’s go,’ ” Rempe said. “Just tried to go out there, buzz around, do my job. Just felt really good in the game. I felt good with the puck, felt good with the D-zone. Overtime, got an O-zone shift, I was pretty excited about that one. It was just a blast. So much fun.”
Whatever your opinion of Rempe, give him this: He knows how to own a room.
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The 21-year-old got his first action of the conference final Friday night after being at the center of a 48-hour news cycle in which everyone from Wayne Gretzky to Mark Messier called for him to be inserted into the Rangers’ lineup.
And then he only went out and lived up to the billing, playing 10:03, throwing nine hits and contributing all over the ice in a game the Rangers had a concerted physical edge compared to the Game 1 loss.
This was the full Rempe experience.
The fans chanted his name from the jump. At one point, he took a faceoff — and won it.
And, in part because Jimmy Vesey went down, Rempe got some ice time in the third period and even in overtime.
“At that point, we were kind of locking on lines,” Laviolette said. “If they were rolling and they rolled a line, it was difficult to get him out there.
“I thought he had really good pace right from the start of the game. He was effective on the forecheck, effective putting it behind him, putting it in the other team’s zone, staying down there. I thought he came out and had a real impact, especially early in the first period.”
Rempe-mania in the conference final.
Rempe-mania to help keep the Rangers’ hopes alive.
“Fans here are the best,” he said. “Unbelievable. I don’t want to let them down. I love them so much. No matter what, they’re chanting. I want to go out there and I want to make them proud. I want to go out there and do something. Do something every shift.
“How can you not have energy when they’re chanting that out there? It was awesome. Unbelievable.”
