![\"Gabe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gabe-perreault-94-new-york-123003949.jpg\")
Gabe Perreault was moved to the Rangers\u2019 second power-play unit. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\nAt the time, it served as an unusual move. <\/p>\n
Gabe Perreault, the former first-round pick and one of the most productive Rangers players since the Olympic break, slid down to their second power-play unit when J.T. Miller \u2014 the struggling Blueshirts captain \u2014 returned from injured reserve last week. <\/p>\n
Head coach Mike Sullivan insisted it wasn\u2019t a demotion, even if the optics suggested that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perreault said that he wasn\u2019t surprised by the decision, though, citing the success that the top power-play unit has generated before as a reason why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot really,\u201d Perreault told The Post on Monday when asked if he was surprised. \u201cThose guys have been really good all year. They\u2019re out there for a reason, and when they\u2019re out there, we have a lot of trust in those guys. I mean, power play\u2019s been one of the best in the league for a while now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust whenever I get my chance, be ready to go and try to not slow them down too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Miller has \u201cbeen a big part of the success that this power play has enjoyed,\u201d Sullivan said Friday, and included his name alongside Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox along the mainstays on the top power-play unit. Injuries and a lack of production \u2014 just 14 goals and 38 points through 52 games \u2014 haven\u2019t jeopardized that. <\/p>\n
Gabe Perreault was moved to the Rangers\u2019 second power-play unit. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Perreault carried a four-game point streak into Monday night\u2019s game against the Kings at the Garden, and his 10 points since March 7 rank seventh in the NHL, according to the team. <\/p>\n
The first-round pick in 2023 finally started to carve out a consistent role on the first line, too, alongside Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, even after getting moved to the second power-play unit, Perreault found a way to set up a goal, hovering down the left wing as Noah Laba crossed into the zone before connecting the Blueshirts center and watching as they took a 1-0 lead against the Wild just minutes in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, every time you want to get out there, especially on the power play, you want to score,\u201d Perreault said of the goal that followed the shift, \u201cso it was nice for us to get one and help the team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lafreni\u00e8re was named the NHL\u2019s first star of the week after collecting five goals and seven points in four games across that stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a number of conversations with him this year about getting inside more,\u201d Sullivan said Monday morning. \u201cIf you want to score 30 goals in this league, you\u2019re not getting 30 from the perimeter. You\u2019re not getting 30 highlight-reel goals that end up on ESPN. You gotta get a fair amount of them that are deflections, tips, rebounds. They go off your skate and in because you\u2019re fighting from the blue paint. \u2026 So that\u2019s a lot of the game, I think, where Laf has really made a commitment there to embracing that element of the game, and I think he\u2019s getting rewarded for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Igor Shesterkin made his 42nd start of the season for the Rangers and, like the Blueshirts, was going for his fifth consecutive win. He entered the night with a .936 save percentage during that stretch. \u2026 Juuso Parssinen, Vincent Iorio and Jonny Brodzinski were the scratches against the Kings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the time, it served as an unusual move. Gabe Perreault, the former first-round pick and one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-528457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}