Matt Rempe remains a hot topic in the playoffs. In his first series, the 21-year-old rookie forward has been noticeable for the Rangers against the Capitals.

It’s hard not to see what he brings to the table. A player with size and strength, he plays with energy during his shifts on the fourth line. Teammates appreciate his contributions.

When coach Peter Laviolette thought Rempe was ready for the postseason, he’s been proven correct in his assessment. It was Rempe who scored the first goal of the series when he parked in front to take a Jimmy Vesey feed and beat Charlie Lindgren. Over two minutes later, goals from Artem Panarin and Vesey broke it open to send the Rangers to a 4-1 win in Game 1.

Rempe followed that up with seven hits in seven and a half minutes in the Rangers’ Game 2 victory over the Capitals. He took a penalty that Washington scored on in the third period. They held on for a 4-3 win.

On Friday night, he delivered a heavy hit on Caps defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk with less than eight minutes left in the first period. The refs called him for interference on the play. Judging from his reaction, he didn’t like the call.

The thing about Rempe is that he’s so big that some of his hits are hard to determine if they’re legal or illegal. He plays on the edge due to his tenacious style.

When he was tossed from two games against the Devils, those were legitimate. He served a four-game suspension for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler. That led to him dropping the gloves against Kurtis MacDermid in the line brawl on Apr. 3. He was accountable for his actions.

Since the suspension, Rempe’s tried to play within the boundaries. He’s officiated differently. That’s led to some marginal calls against him.

Following last night’s 4-1 victory in Game 3, experts chimed in on the interference minor that was called on Rempe. The consensus is that his hit on van Riemsdyk was clean.

Both ESPN’s P.K. Subban and the NHL on TNT panel that includes Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter, and Wayne Gretzky felt that it was a legal check. Gretzky said that his only concern was that it was a tad late. Van Riemsdyk had just released the puck to a teammate when Rempe crushed him into the boards.

Part of the issue was that van Riemsdyk turned and didn’t see Rempe coming. That put him in a vulnerable position. Rempe finished his check. The end result was that the Caps lost van Riemsdyk for the remainder of the game. They played with five defensemen the rest of the way.

The Rangers picked up Rempe by killing off the penalty. Their penalty kill went a perfect 6 for 6 against the Caps with a shorthanded goal scored by Barclay Goodrow.

At the end of a shift later in the game, Rempe declined to fight Tom Wilson. The Rangers were leading 2-1. It was the right decision. Why give the Caps a chance to get fired up.

In seven shifts, Rempe had four hits over 5:16 of ice time. In three games, he has a goal, six penalty minutes, and 15 hits. He’ll likely be in again for Game 4 tomorrow night.

Considering the Rangers have a 17-2-1 record with him in the lineup, that’s just the way they want it.