The third line had done its job again and in the inimitable straight-line fashion that sets it apart from the Rangers’ other units comprising the top nine.
It was Monday night at the Garden past the midway mark of what was a scoreless game against the Flames. Kaapo Kakko had driven to the net from the right side on a two-on-one and after the initial save was made by Jacob Markstrom, Will Cuylle went to and stooped in front to bang in the rebound on his second or third opportunity.
The Rangers had the 1-0 lead in a match in which they displayed tenacity and would win 2-0 by adding a late empty-netter for their fifth straight victory. The Cuylle-Jonny Brodzinski-Kakko line had made its imprint on the match even while getting only 8:00 of ice time as a unit.
“I think that’s what the coaches want from us. Keep it simple,” Kakko told The Post following the club’s fifth straight victory. “We’re not playing too much. So, try to get the puck to the o-zone and get some shots off that.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Head coach Peter Laviolette formed this unit six games ago by after flipping Kakko with Blake Wheeler, the latter moving on up to the Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad connection. Brodzinski’s speed, ability to transport the puck and first-shoot mentality has meshed well with the bigger-bodied Kakko and Cuylle, who have done their best work this season in tight spaces and by getting to the front.
The unit plays playoff-style hockey even as the hierarchy has been on the lookout for a center for the line at least since Filip Chytil was ruled out for the season on Jan. 28. It is unclear whether the Blueshirts believe their highest priority approaching the Mar. 8 deadline is filling that spot or acquiring a more substantial right wing to skate with Zibanejad.
The Rangers do like what they have seen from the Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kakko unit that has been on for four goals scored and two against with an expected goals share of 61.58 pct. It’s a unit that plays simple hockey while in the early stages of creating an identity.
“For me to come out and say they’re a checking line or an offensive line, what I can tell you is that probably in the last six or seven games, they’ve been a noticeable, impactful line offensively, and playing good two-way hockey,” Laviolette said in advance of Thursday’s match at the Garden against Montreal. “You don’t have to be an offensive line, you don’t have to be a defensive defenseman, you can just be a good line or a good player.
“They seem to be a good line. They take the puck, they possess it, they take it into the offensive zone and they’ve been producing points for us. I think they’re probably getting confidence from that. I’m getting confidence from that, as the coach. They seem to be doing a good job by all accounts.
“The numbers look good, my eyes say they look good when they’re on the ice. They’re scoring goals and they’re making a difference inside the game. So right now, they’re becoming a dependable two-way line that is producing some offense for us.”
The Rangers have their top two lines. Laviolette has been using the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey and now Adam Edstrom as a checking unit that often matches against the opposition’s top guns. So the Brodzinksi Trio is kind of in a squeeze for ice time, as Kakko noted three times within a conversation that lasted less than 90 seconds after getting a sum of 11:07 in Monday’s match.
“They’re earning more ice time, even last game,” Laviolette said. “There were times they jumped the rotation to just get them back out there. I do think that they’re playing well enough, and they’re creating and they’re scoring goals for us. So they find a little more ice time.
“But in the same sense, you have a line that you’re putting out against another team’s top line in the defensive zones. You got the other two lines that you’re delegating some heavier minutes to, so there’s a balance there, as well.”