Peter Laviolette juggles Rangers’ bottom-six again

The carousel of the final six healthy players continued to spin on Wednesday, when Jonny Brodzinski was the odd one out this time against the Devils.

After the Rangers put up an uninspiring performance in the previous game, head coach Peter Laviolette opted to inject the lineup with some guaranteed energy by reconnecting Matt Rempe after scratching the 6-foot-8 ½ forward in of the previous three matches.

Rempe, as usual, did not disappoint.

Continuing his personal trend, Rempe earned his third game misconduct against the Devils this season after an old-fashioned hockey brawl broke out on the opening faceoff.

“I would like to have players ready for the playoffs,” Laviolette said before the Rangers beat the Devils 4-3 at the Garden. “I would like to have guys who don’t sit out all seven games, throughout the lineup. And I don’t think anyone should. Our guys played well enough that everyone deserves to play. But again, I can’t. I will only have to eliminate 18 skaters tonight.

Despite the fact that Rempe has always provided a kinetic boost to the Blueshirts when he plays, the history between the 21-year-old rookie and the Devils had to be considered before this decision was made.

After being sent off for leveling Nathan Bastian – who has since been sidelined – on February 22, Rempe was sent off again for a hit against Jonas Siegenthaler on March 11.

The second incident earned him a four-game suspension.

The Devils’ Kurtis MacDermid finally got to drop the gloves with Rempe, who finished with 47 penalty minutes, two fights and three fouls in 5:03 of playing time in three games in the Battle of the Hudson this season.

Last weekend in Arizona, Laviolette pointed out that sometimes the Rangers’ opponent will factor into roster decisions.

He set the example of wanting the Will Cuylle-Barclay Goodrow-Jimmy Vesey line to be united against the Avalanche.

While some of it may be the opposition, Laviolette is still finalizing his playoff roster and analyzing different looks among the bottom six.

In the event of an injury, Laviolette has several different combinations that players are familiar with.

The top six has remained intact since Jack Roslovic was acquired to slot in on the right wing of the top line alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

The Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafrenière unit has been together since Filip Chytil lost 10 games in the season.

Laviolette does not plan to limit the playing time of his best players as part of load management before the playoffs.

“We now play every other day,” he said. “There are plenty of opportunities to rest. I don’t know if going from 22 minutes to 19 minutes will be a big deal. We will play the game to win the game. And then we’ll get the rest we need to be successful in the next game.

Erik Gustafsson returned to the lineup Wednesday for the first time since taking an elbow to the head from the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart.

After missing four straight games with an upper-body injury, the Swedish defender returned to his usual spot on the bottom pair alongside Braden Schneider.

The Rangers will have an optional practice Thursday before venturing to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Friday.