Jake Leschyshyn makes his debut for Rangers on fourth line

Jake Leschyshyn, the forward the Rangers claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, made his debut with the Blueshirts on Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens. He took the place of Julien Gauthier, who was placed on injured reserve (upper-body injury).

The Rangers called up center Ryan Carpenter from Hartford to take Gauthier’s spot on the roster, but Carpenter served as the extra forward and was not in the lineup.

Gauthier was injured when he collided with teammate Sammy Blais near the end of the first period in Thursday’s overtime win over Dallas. He left the game and did not return.

It was the second straight game Gauthier left early with an upper-body injury. He also was forced out of Tuesday’s win over Minnesota after being sandwiched between Brandon Duhaime and former teammate Ryan Reaves.

Leschyshyn, 23, centered the Rangers’ fourth line, with Jonny Brodzinski on right wing and Blais on the left.

“He plays the wing a little bit, but he prefers the middle,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said of Leschyshyn, who had two shots in just 6:46 of ice time.

Leschyshyn played 22 games for Vegas without a goal or an assist. Carpenter, who was sent to Hartford on Dec. 9, had nine goals and four assists in 15 games for the Wolf Pack.

Blue notes

The Rangers wore their Reverse Retro Lady Liberty jerseys for the seventh time. They are 1-6 when wearing them . . . With No. 1 goalie Jake Allen injured, backup Sam Montembeault started his third straight game for Montreal, including both ends of a back-to-back after playing Saturday night on Long Island in the Canadiens’ 2-1 loss to the Islanders . . . D Libor Hajek was the Rangers’ other scratch. He has sat out the last 14 games.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.