Morning Notes: Rempe, Capitals, Ducks

Rangers forward Matt Rempe has served his four-game suspension and is eligible to return Tuesday against the Jets. Last week, the NHL Department of Player Safety handed down the first supplemental discipline of Rempe’s brief career after he illegally elbowed Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in the head in the second period of last Monday’s game. Devils interim head coach Travis Green said Siegenthaler sustained a concussion on the play and is out indefinitely.

Rempe, 21, has played 10 games for the Rangers since they recalled him in mid-February. The 2020 sixth-round pick stuck in the lineup after fighting Islanders heavyweight Matt Martin less than two minutes into his first NHL game, last month’s Stadium Series event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. While a decent bottom-six checking forward at the minor-league level, Rempe has dialed it up to full-on enforcer status in the majors, posting nearly as many PIMs (54) as he has total time on ice (56). Despite logging double-digit ice time in a game just once thus far, the Calgary native has logged a goal, an assist, and eight shots. If he draws back into the lineup against Winnipeg, Jonny Brodzinski, who was a healthy scratch in two straight before Rempe’s suspension, would likely come out.

Other updates to kick off the week:

• The Eastern Conference wild-card race is heating up like a game of hot potato. The two leading contenders for the final playoff spot, the Islanders and Red Wings, are both on significant skids. The Isles have lost four straight, and the Red Wings have only won two out of their last 10. That’s paved the way for the Capitals to take advantage despite their remarkable -30 goal differential. With a point against the Flames on Monday on a two-game slate, they can move into the second wild-card spot in earnest, surpassing the Red Wings. They’ve already moved into the spot based on points percentage, as they trail Detroit by one point with two games in hand entering Monday night’s action.
• On the other side of the coin, the Ducks became the third team to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after losing 4-2 to the Blues on Sunday night. Sitting with a 23-42-3 record (49 points) through 68 games, they trail the current second wild card, the Golden Knights, by 30 points but can only earn 28 if they win out. This marks the sixth straight season without playoff hockey in Anaheim, last cracking the field in 2018, when the Sharks swept them in the first round. Only four players who suited up in regular-season games for the team that season remain in SoCal – forwards Jakob Silfverberg and Troy Terry, defenseman Cam Fowler, and goaltender John Gibson.