Rangers coach Mike Sullivan has faith in his fourth line, and it keeps growing

MONTREAL — With the scoreboard clock ticking down to two-and-a-half minutes remaining, and the Rangers desperately trying to get the tying goal against the Edmonton Oilers and goalie Stuart Skinner, fourth-line center Sam Carrick drove to the net and fired a low shot toward the far post that Skinner snatched with his catching glove.

It was the 29th of 30 saves Skinner made that night in the Oilers’ 2-0 win at Madison Square Garden Tuesday, and it was one of three shots on goal Carrick had, which doesn’t include the one he rang off the crossbar late in the second period. But the most telling thing was that Carrick and his linemates, Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe, were on the ice late in a one-goal game.

It spoke a lot to the kind of faith coach Mike Sullivan has in his fourth line. And that faith keeps growing.

“As we say to the players all the time, performance matters. and those guys, they're performing,’’ Sullivan said at Saturday’s optional morning skate at the Bell Centre before the Rangers played the Montreal Canadiens. “They've defended well against other teams' top players. Sam Carrick has been pretty good in the faceoff circle. When they lose draws, there's detail in our team game, and their structure, and they've generated a fair amount of quality scoring chances offensively. They've been a great momentum line for us. In every game, they've impacted the game in a positive way.’’

As a result, the Edstrom-Carrick-Rempe line has become a fourth line in name only. They go fourth in the line rushes in pre-game warmups, but they’ve really become the Rangers’ third line. Their ice time alone says that.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Edstrom, Carrick and Rempe had played a total of 50 minutes, 37 seconds together in 5-on-5 situations in the Rangers’ six games before Saturday. That’s an average of eight minutes and 26 seconds. In the 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto Thursday, the line played 8:30, but against Edmonton they played 9:54. And in the game before that, the 1-0 loss to Washington last Sunday, they played 10:39 together.

The nominal third line, with rookie center Noah Laba, right wing Taylor Raddysh, and either Conor Sheary, Juuso Parssinen or Jonny Brodzinski, had played a total of 43:06 entering Saturday, an average of 7:26 per game. That’s a full minute less than the so-called fourth line.

“We're, first off, being really good defensively,’’ said Rempe, the only lineup regular to take part in Saturday’s skate, when asked why the coaches are playing them so much. “I think that's gaining trust from Sully and coaches. And then I think we're in the ‘O’ zone a ton right now.

“I think that when we're grinding teams, wearing them out… we're getting a lot of scoring chances,’’ he said. “We aren't finishing right now, but I think (creating chances is) huge from a fourth line. If we're creating those chances, we're creating a lot of energy momentum… So it's been good start for us so far.’’

Overall, the line has produced more shot attempts (57-40), shots on goal (22-20), scoring chances (25-16), high-danger chances (15-3) and goals (2-1). Over the last three games, the shots on goal were even (12-12) but the other numbers ticked up. Shot attempts were 32-20, scoring chances were 14-8, and high-danger chances were 7-1.

Which explains why they’re getting more and more ice time, and in key situations.

“They get in on the forecheck,’’ Sullivan said. “It's a simple formula. They play straight ahead, and they're coming at you. And they're good at it. They play to their strengths. They use their size, they use their reach, they use their physicality, and they do it in all three zones. So performance matters, and they've certainly performed, and that they've been deserving of the ice time that they've gotten.’’

“Especially as a fourth line, you’re trying to earn your coach’s trust to put you out there in all situations, whether you’re up a goal, down a goal,’’ Carrick said after the Edmonton game. “We want to be out there. I felt like when we were on the ice, we were creating good opportunities and playing our game.’’

Notes & quotes: Jonathan Quick got his second start of the season in goal for the Rangers. Quick allowed one goal on 21 shots against Washington in his first start … F Conor Sheary played in his 600th career NHL game ...  Other than Quick, Sullivan stayed with the same lineup against Toronto, meaning Brodzinski and D Scott Morrow were the scratches ... D Carson Soucy (upper-body injury) is eligible to come off injured reserve. He skated in a full contact jersey Saturday and could re-enter the lineup Monday against Minnesota at the Garden.

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.