Jesper Fast gets a second look with three games left after improving with Hartford.
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One game was all it took for Alain Vigneault to realize the Brian Boyle experiment with slumping forwards Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis wasn’t going to work. Despite St. Louis getting a couple of glorious chances in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Ottawa, the ex-Lightning star remains a puzzling disappointment. He’s failed to fit in totaling a goal and three assists in 17 games since being acquired for Ryan Callahan and two draft picks.

With Richards also struggling, Vigneault has yet to find the right combo that would give the Rangers better offensive balance. The loss of Chris Kreider is being felt. He was a difference maker. With his time table uncertain for the first round, it’s forced Vigneault to mix and match. He finally realized playing one of four fourth liners out of position wasn’t going to work. Unsatisfied with J.T. Miller for unknown reasons, he’s now gone to another kid in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.

Tomorrow, Jesper Fast will get a chance to play on a line with Richards and Carl Hagelin. He’s quietly been on a good little roll with the Wolf Pack. After totaling 10 points (5-5-10) in March, he posted a three-point game in yesterday’s Hartford win over Norfolk. Fast notched his 16th and 17th goals including the winner.

Despite only playing 48 games, he ranks third on the team in goals (17) trailing Danny Kristo (22) and Ryan Bourque (20). Fast leads the Wolf Pack with eight power play goals and is tied with Miller for third in plus-minus (+14) behind Bourque (+17).

Originally a Rangers’ 2010 sixth round pick, the 22-year old Fast has risen up the prospect ladder since playing for HV 71 back home in Sweden. In ’12-13, he had similar production going 18-17-35 with five PPG’s and plus-13 over 47 games. After beating out Kreider to start the season, he saw limited duty going without a point and minus-five in eight games before getting sent down. Having improved in his first pro season, Fast gets another crack.

It’s no small task. He’s being asked to fill a top nine forward role and perhaps get power play time. Given how badly it’s performed since Kreider went down, why shouldn’t he? He can’t do much worse. A once team strength has regressed to the glory days of Perry Pearn and Mike Sullivan. New York Post Rangers beat writer Larry Brooks detailed its struggles in a Sunday column.

“One bobble, one hesitation, one battle you don’t win, and that can be enough to throw you off. You have to focus on getting good looks and you have to outwork the penalty killers,” Derek Stepan told Brooks of a power play that’s 5 for its last 52 in 17 games since St. Louis was acquired. Coincidentally, he replaced Kreider on the top unit. Of course, Kreider is out of commission for now.

With Fast joining Richards and Hagelin, Vigneault has moved St. Louis up with Stepan and Rick Nash. On paper, it makes sense. It combines their top playmaking pivot and top finisher with St. Louis. A player used to producing at a much higher clip. The cohesive third unit of Benoit Pouliot, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello remains intact. That leaves Vigneault to choose from Daniel Carcillo and Derek Dorsett to play on the fourth line with Boyle and Dominic Moore.

Regarding the playoff picture, the Rangers still lead the Flyers by two for second. The Blue Jackets inched closer to a second playoff berth with a 4-0 shutout of the Islanders. They lead the Devils by three. New Jersey hosts Calgary tonight. They must continue to win and get help. With Toronto in full free fall, they also have 84 points but only three games left. With only 29 ROW, basically they need a miracle. Run the table and pray for help. A Devil loss to the Flames would allow the Rangers to clinch. They need one point to wrap up an eighth playoff berth in nine seasons.