Kaapo Kakko back in Rangers’ lineup for Game 3 vs. Panthers after Jimmy Vesey injury
SUNRISE, Fla. — Kaapo Kakko didn’t have to wait long to be reinserted into the Rangers lineup.
After Jimmy Vesey was ruled out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury he sustained in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final series against the Panthers, Kakko proved to be the next best man up in head coach Peter Laviolette’s eyes.
The Finnish wing, who was scratched in the third round of the playoffs for the second time in three years under a second head coach, returned to his usual post on the third line next to Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic.
He played right wing as Roslovic flipped to the left.
“I’m allowed 12 forwards and so we made a decision to put Matt [Rempe] back in the lineup,” Laviolette said when asked why Kakko was scratched before the Rangers took Game 3 with a 5-4 victory in overtime Sunday evening. “When somebody goes into the lineup, there’s a decision that has to be made on somebody else. It wasn’t because we were banged up, I needed to make a decision. There’s a lot of things that factor into these decisions, we don’t take them lightly. And so we made a decision and it was Kaapo.”
Sunday marked the first game Vesey has missed since Oct. 16, the third contest of the regular season.
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With Vesey unavailable to play on the fourth line, Will Cuylle was bumped down to the left wing of a line with Barclay Goodrow and Rempe. Kakko and Jack Roslovic flanked Alex Wennberg, while Filip Chytil remained on the top unit alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
Blake Wheeler, sidelined since Feb. 15 with a lower-body injury, took warm-ups but did not dress for the second straight game.
“The commitment that he made to come back from such an injury has been amazing to watch,” Laviolette said of Wheeler before the game. “Everyday he’s working hard — really hard — to get back to where he was prior to the injury, and there’s been significant strides with that.”
The Rangers’ fourth overtime win in the playoffs on Sunday tied with the 2014-15 team for the most in franchise history.
Wheeler, sidelined since Feb. 15 with a lower-body injury, took warmups but did not dress for the second straight game.
“The commitment that he made to come back from such an injury has been amazing to watch,” Laviolette said of Wheeler before the game. “Everyday he’s working hard — really hard — to get back to where he was prior to the injury, and there’s been significant strides with that.”
The Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers AHL affiliate, were swept in three games by the Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Finals.
As a result, the Rangers recalled Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Anton Blidh, Ben Harpur, Dylan Garand, Jake Leschyshyn, Connor Mackey, Victor Mancini, Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick, Matthew Robertson, Brandon Scanlin and Adam Sykora from Hartford to serve as the club’s taxi squad.