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Rangers recall Perreault from Hartford in hopes of boosting offense
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- Rangers recall Perreault from Hartford in hopes of boosting offense
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The New York Rangers hope that calling up their best prospect, forward Gabe Perreault, from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday will give a boost to their struggling offense and help them end a historically bad start at Madison Square Garden.
Perreault figures to be in the lineup Monday night when the Rangers host the Nashville Predators , as they look for answers to a home start that's been fueled by an inability to put the puck in the net. Saturday's 5-0 loss to the New York Islanders dropped the Blueshirts to 0-6-1 at Madison Square Garden. Five of the six losses have been shutouts, matching a dubious record held by the 1928-29 Pittsburgh Pirates.
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The Rangers' first-round pick (No. 23 overall) signed with New York in late March after his second season at Boston College ended with a loss in the NCAA Tournament on March 30. He was scoreless in five games. The 20-year-old son of former NHL center Yanic Perreault had a good training camp, but management decided he'd be better off playing top-six minutes at Hartford rather than seeing limited time (and likely in the bottom six) with the big club.
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However, after Perreault put up five goals and 10 points in nine games with the Wolf Pack, he's getting another NHL chance with a team that's averaging 2.19 goals per game in its 7-7-2 start.
Perreault is a player known for his offensive abilities, so this move was clearly made hoping to ignite New York's offense. He put up 108 points in 73 games at Boston College. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, he doesn't bring much to a lineup in terms of size, but that hasn't stopped him from producing points at every level he's played at.
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Perreault missed the two most recent Wolf Pack games with an upper-body injury and was listed as day-to-day. That came after he was named the AHL Player of the Week for the prior week.
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Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said during camp that he liked what he saw from Perreault, calling him "an NHL player in the making. He said having the rookie getting minutes will be vital – which likely means Perreault will be playing in the top six with the Blueshirts.
To make room, the Rangers returned forward Jaroslav Chmelar to Hartford. Chmelar was scoreless in two games with the Rangers, averaging 7:14 of ice time. He made his biggest impression in the third period of his NHL debut against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night, getting into a spirited scrap with veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic during New York's 4-1 win.
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