Tanner Glass shows grit for Rangers

The last-minute addition of Tanner Glass, called up from AHL Hartford yesterday, added grit for the Rangers in their first game against the Islanders this season, but the level of their willingness to win battles and throw the body is unclear.

Maybe it was the first taste of the rivalry this season. But something changed the recent, often passive, nature of the Blueshirts.

Skating with Oscar Lindberg and J.T. Miller, Glass played just 10:01, but delivered five hits, managed three shots on goal and missed the net wide on a chance in the first period with about 11:36 left in the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout loss last night. Also in the first, with about 2:30 gone and Glass in front of Jaroslav Halak, a shot whizzed by his screen as Lindberg and Miller pressed on the forecheck.

The 32-year-old left wing, who cleared waivers on Oct. 21 after skating in just two games, compiled 192 penalty minutes in 135 games in three seasons with the Rangers.

“It was a little strange for me, just getting here,” Glass said. “I thought there was a lot of traffic. I felt we were around for rebounds.”

In 17 games with Hartford, Glass was 2-3-5 with 19 shots on goal and 23 penalty minutes.

Rangers coach Alain Vig neault, who expected a physical game and wanted Glass in the lineup, saw what he predicted. “There were a lot of hits being thrown out there,” Vigneault said. “I like how we competed.”

It was a hard-hitting game throughout. Marc Staal dumped Matt Martin late in the third, and Dylan McIlrath then downed Martin, a check that initiated some high sticks in front of Henrik Lundqvist.

In four games against the Islanders last season, Glass — who was summoned because Emerson Etem was ill (Etem did not skate in Tuesday’s optional practice in Greenburgh) — averaged about 17 shifts per night, about 10 minutes of ice time and was credited with three hits each game.

“We’re going to have to take some hits to make some plays, and when we get an opportunity ourselves to play that way, we’ve got to do the same thing,” Vigneault had said before the game. “We needed another forward and we thought that in today’s game Glass would be a good fit.”

Glass will stay here for tonight’s home game against the Avalanche but Vigneault said a decision on which forward to add for next week’s three-game trip to Western Canada would be made on the weekend.

“We’re going to take a look at these two games and go from there,” he said.