Matt Rempe back in Rangers lineup vs. Lightning

Tuesday morning's line rushes made it pretty clear who was coming out and who was going in.

Mollie Walker

@MollieeWalkerr

Looks like Matt Rempe is coming in for Jaroslav Chmelař, who was skating as an extra with Scott Morrow during #NYR line rushes just now.

Chmelař and Scott Morrow were the 2 left over at line rushes, and that is usually the tell for who is sitting. Rempe had been the odd man out for the last 2 games. He was scratched for the Rangers' game in Washington on October 9 and again at home vs. the Canucks on October 11. In both of those games Chmelař played on a line with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cole Beaudoin. Tonight, that spot looks like it belongs to Rempe.

Here's how the whole group lined up at the morning skate:

Vince Z. Mercogliano

@vzmercogliano

Here's the full #NYR morning skate look: Perreault - Zibanejad - Dorofeyev Kartye - Miller - Lafrenière Cuylle - Laba - Tolvanen Bjorkstrand - Beaudoin - Rempe Gavrikov - Fox Pettersson - Durzi Šmits - Schneider

Vince Z. Mercogliano@vzmercogliano

Looks like Rempe is coming back in tonight for Chmelař #NYR

Rempe skated right wing with Bjorkstrand and Beaudoin, which is a straight swap for Chmelař. The top 9 forwards didn't change: Perreault-Zibanejad-Dorofeyev, Kartye-Miller-Lafrenière and Cuylle-Laba-Tolvanen. The defense pairs were Gavrikov-Fox, Pettersson-Durzi and Šmits-Schneider, so Morrow is out again. It's a small change, but it puts some size and some snarl back on the 4th line against a team that's been rolling.

That's the reason the move makes sense. Tampa has won 4 straight, according to the Lightning's own preview, and they haven't forgotten the season opener on October 1, when the Rangers beat them 5-1 at the Garden. Kucherov scored their only goal that night. The Bolts are back in the building tonight looking to get even, and putting the 6-foot-8 guy back in the lineup is a pretty clear message from the Rangers about how they expect this one to go.

Rempe's whole case for playing every night comes down to games like this. If he plays a clean, physical 4th-line shift and doesn't take dumb penalties, he gives the coaching staff a reason to keep him in. If he doesn't, Chmelař is going to be skating as an extra with his name on the board again. Puck drop is 7:15 PM ET at MSG, and it'll be worth watching the Rempe shifts closely.