‘Dream come true’: Rempe scores in playoff debut
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
NEW YORK — New York Rangers rookie forward Matt Rempe said that “shock” was the first emotion he felt after scoring the opening goal of their playoff series against the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It didn’t really kick in, and then you hear the crowd. It was a dream come true. It was unreal,” he said, after the Rangers’ 4-1 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Rempe’s goal at 4:17 of the second period sparked the Rangers’ offense, as they built a 3-0 lead in a 2:06 span after he scored. But the entire game just added to the cult hero status of the 6-foot-7 rookie, whose energetic fights and big hits endeared him to Rangers fans who loudly chanted his name in Game 1.
“I love them. They were chanting all night and I love them so much,” Rempe said. “I can’t thank them enough.”
One of those fans was his mother, Janice, who was watching her son play for the first time at Madison Square Garden.
“It was really special for her to be there,” he said. “I love her so much. I’m her biggest fan. We went out for dinner last night and walked around. She had never really been to New York, so we were just walking around. I bet she was pretty emotional today, so it was really cool.”
Rempe took his first playoff shift 50 seconds into Game 1, sparking a “REM-PE” chant from the sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd. Just over a minute later, Rempe was in the penalty box, having been called for charging against the Capitals’ Beck Malenstyn. As they would throughout Game 1, the Capitals failed to score on the man advantage, going 0-for-4.
Rempe spent just 26 seconds more on the ice than in the penalty box during the first period, a ratio familiar to Rangers fans who watched his rookie season.
But in the second period, Rempe made a game-changing play not with his physicality, but with his offense.
Rempe carried the puck into the attacking zone, circled behind the net and then tucked a pass from teammate Jimmy Vesey into the Capitals’ net at 4:17 for his first playoff goal and a 1-0 lead for the Rangers.
“I think any game he’s in the lineup, he’s had an effect on the game. He shows up every night for the team and it’s great to see him get that goal,” Vesey said. “It was a big goal in the game obviously, but the look on his face was pretty cool, too.”
That goal shifted the momentum to the Rangers, who built a 3-0 lead over the next 2:06 in the second period on goals from Artemi Panarin and Vesey, on a play that had another Rempe moment.
After Barclay Goodrow won the faceoff, Rempe collided with Malenstyn, knocking him to the ice in the slot. That helped clear the path for Vesey to beat goalie Charlie Lindgren with a long-distance shot that was deflected. Capitals defenseman John Carlson protested to the officials about the play. Replays appeared to show Malenstyn skating into Rempe after the faceoff.
“You’re anticipating a [faceoff] loss, so you’re trying to jump through. And then when [Goodrow] wins it back, I want to get a pick. I don’t really know what happened. Next thing you know, Jimmy scored. So I was just happy Jim scored,” Rempe said.
Rempe ended the night with a goal, a plus-2 rating, two penalty minutes and two shots on goal in 8:33 of ice time. When the Capitals tried to engage with him physically, he’d smile and skate away.
It has been a learning experience for Rempe from his NHL debut in the Rangers’ MetLife Stadium Series win over the Islanders on Feb. 18 to earning a place in the lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs. After five fights in his first six NHL games and a four-game suspension in March for elbowing New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, Rempe had only one fight in his last seven regular-season games.
After Game 1, Rempe said he was proud to have made an impact in the postseason for the Rangers.
“I know my game. I know I can skate well and be physical. I think I can be a real pain to play against down low, protecting pucks and going to the net,” he said. “I think I’m built for the playoffs. I think that that’s where you want to play and I was happy how tonight went.”
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said that in his 22 seasons behind the bench in the NHL, he couldn’t recall another first-year player like Rempe.
“I can’t think of a player that’s come in and had that kind of impact on a team, on a fan base and on the city,” he said. “If you watch him, he just smiles. He’s just happy. Loves being here, loves to play the game. He’s been great.”
Game 2 is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell captured pole position for the seventh time in his career during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It’s the first pole for Spire, which has shown stark improvement with an infusion of cash brought by new majority owner Dan Towriss, who also controls Andretti Global in IndyCar and the Cadillac F1 team set to debut in 2026.
McDowell’s previous six poles all came during the 2024 season, his 17th in the Cup Series.
Christopher Bell qualified in 13th position but will start from the back of the field as he searches for a fourth consecutive win. NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.
He could become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup Series races — an accomplishment that only eight drivers have achieved in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.
Lackluster qualifying hasn’t been a deterrent for Bell thus far, as he started 19th before winning at Circuit of the Americas and 32nd before winning at Atlanta.
Joey Logano will start Sunday’s race alongside McDowell on the front of the grid, qualifying in the top two at Las Vegas for the third time in five races. Austin Cindric will start third, while Las Vegas native Kyle Busch starts in fourth.
Bell has received a congratulatory text message from Johnson after each win in this three-race streak, and he is hoping the seven-time NASCAR champion hits that send button again Sunday.
“It is still the coolest thing in the world to me that I have Jimmie Johnson in my phone,” Bell said. “He has talked to me, he has sent me a text message after every win so far. I’m still shocked every time I see his name pop up. I respect the heck out of him. It’s an honor to know that he thinks of me after the race to send a text message. That is so cool.”
Bell’s three straight wins is the Cup Series’ longest winning streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.
The three wins this year tie his season-high set in 2022 and matched in 2024, and setting a new mark isn’t out of the question at Las Vegas, where he has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. Bell, in his No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the runner-up in Vegas’ last two fall races.
He is not considering a fourth consecutive victory a lock, even as he has dominated the first month of the season.
“One thing is for sure: Nothing that has happened the last three weeks means anything for this week,” Bell said. “Everything is still ahead of me and nothing is set, and we have to go out there and perform. This has been a strong track for us in the past, but I’m just trying very hard to not get ahead of myself and understand it is a new week. It’s a different race, and everyone is going to be bringing their best stuff to try to beat me.”
Perhaps the greatest threat to end Bell’s hot streak is Larson, who has won at the “Diamond in the Desert” three times since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Larson’s first win with Hendrick came at Las Vegas in March 2021, and he has claimed two of the previous three races held at the track, winning the South Point 400 in October 2023 and the Pennzoil 400 in March 2024.
“I think since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, it’s probably been our best racetrack,” Larson said. “Getting a few wins, I think two other second-place finishes in that time has also been really good. The track is great, but getting to come to the city and have fun on the Strip and all the stuff that it has to offer, it probably makes it one of my three favorite races to get to.”
Logano is the most recent winner at Las Vegas, as his victory at the South Point 400 in October propelled him to his third NASCAR title.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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