Rangers center Sam Carrick's strong month key to fourth line's offensive surge

Generally, no one pays attention to the fourth-line center until he starts doing what Sam Carrick has been doing this month. But it may be time to look a little closer at what Carrick is doing for the Rangers this season.

Carrick scored the first goal of the season for the Rangers, way back on Oct. 10, in their season-opening 6-0 win over Pittsburgh, then went goalless for the next 36 games until he finally scored his second of the season Jan. 4 in a 7-4 loss to the Capitals in Washington. Starting there, though, Carrick had four goals in the next 12 games, entering Tuesday’s homestand finale against the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I got off to a little bit of a slower start than I would have liked,’’ said Carrick, who had five goals and 10 assists (15 points) before facing Carolina. “My last couple years I've been able to score a little bit at a better pace. So I think I'm starting to pick it up a little bit, [and I’ll] hopefully catch up to that same pace and maybe even go above.’’

Carrick, who turns 33 next Tuesday, had 33 goals and 35 assists in 289 games in his career before Tuesday, including 10 goals and six assists for Anaheim and Edmonton last season, and 11 goals and eight assists in 64 games for Anaheim in 2021-22. So he can score and he can produce points. It’s just perhaps not the first thing that people think of when they picture him as a player.

The Oilers acquired him from the Ducks, along with Adam Henrique, at last season’s trade deadline as they geared for a playoff run that would take them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers signed him as a free agent over the summer, bringing him on board with a three-year, $3 million deal to be a more cost-effective replacement for Barclay Goodrow, who was claimed off waivers by San Jose.

And the 6-foot, 202-pound Carrick has given them everything they could have asked for. Besides the goals and assists, the Markham, Ontario, native has been a solid defensive forward and penalty killer who has taken some of the matchups against other teams’ top forward lines. He had won 55.4% of his faceoffs and played to a plus-4 rating before Tuesday.

And the fourth line, with Carrick skating between giant wingers Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe, has been contributing offensively of late, with the 6-6 Edstrom chipping in three goals and an assist in the last eight games, and the 6-9 Rempe adding a goal and two assists in that same span.

In those eight games, Edstrom and Rempe are a plus-5 and Carrick a plus-7, and in the 66 minutes and 19 seconds the trio has been on ice together overall, the Rangers have outscored their opponents 4-0 and outshot them 30-21, according to the analytics site Natural Stat Trick.

“I think they're generating a little bit more [of late],’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “You’re talking about… somebody [in Carrick] who's come into the organization and trying to find his way, talking about Adam Edstrom, his first year as a pro, and he's certainly playing well. Remps has had a year that's taken him in different places for different reasons, but he's here now, and he's contributing.

“That line has generated chances . . . they’ve done a good job.’’

And Laviolette has showed increasing faith in the trio, trusting them with late third-period shifts in tight games and matching them against top lines.  The coach showed great faith in Carrick in a game against the Devils on Jan. 9, when, with the Rangers going to overtime for the second straight time, he sent Carrick onto the ice during  the 3-on-3 play. Carrick rewarded the coach by stripping New Jersey’s Jack Hughes of the puck, and converting Reilly Smith’s 2-on-1 pass for the game-winning goal.

Carrick chuckled when asked if he was surprised to get a shift in the overtime.

“I was very surprised,’’ he said. “Yeah, I mean, normally when games go into overtime, I take my mouth guard out, and I kind of become a bit of a fan, and get a great seat for the overtime. So when I heard my name called, I had to put my mouth guard back in and get ready and prepare.

“Things worked out good,’’ he said. “Yeah, it was a cool experience.’’

Notes & quotes: Igor Shesterkin  will make his fourth straight start in goal Tuesday . . . Laviolette, when asked if defenseman Zac Jones, who was scratched for the 16th straight game, might need to go the minor leagues for a conditioning stint, said, “We need him here. He's part of our team, and he's played good minutes for us. If needed, I know he'll go in and do a good job.’’

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.