At the time, it served as an unusual move.
Gabe Perreault, the former first-round pick and one of the most productive Rangers players since the Olympic break, slid down to their second power-play unit when J.T. Miller — the struggling Blueshirts captain — returned from injured reserve last week.
Head coach Mike Sullivan insisted it wasn’t a demotion, even if the optics suggested that.
Perreault said that he wasn’t surprised by the decision, though, citing the success that the top power-play unit has generated before as a reason why.
“Not really,” Perreault told The Post on Monday when asked if he was surprised. “Those guys have been really good all year. They’re out there for a reason, and when they’re out there, we have a lot of trust in those guys. I mean, power play’s been one of the best in the league for a while now.
“Just whenever I get my chance, be ready to go and try to not slow them down too much.”
Miller has “been a big part of the success that this power play has enjoyed,” Sullivan said Friday, and included his name alongside Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox along the mainstays on the top power-play unit. Injuries and a lack of production — just 14 goals and 38 points through 52 games — haven’t jeopardized that.
Perreault carried a four-game point streak into Monday night’s game against the Kings at the Garden, and his 10 points since March 7 rank seventh in the NHL, according to the team.
The first-round pick in 2023 finally started to carve out a consistent role on the first line, too, alongside Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière, too.
Still, even after getting moved to the second power-play unit, Perreault found a way to set up a goal, hovering down the left wing as Noah Laba crossed into the zone before connecting the Blueshirts center and watching as they took a 1-0 lead against the Wild just minutes in the game.
“Obviously, every time you want to get out there, especially on the power play, you want to score,” Perreault said of the goal that followed the shift, “so it was nice for us to get one and help the team.”
Lafrenière was named the NHL’s first star of the week after collecting five goals and seven points in four games across that stretch.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with him this year about getting inside more,” Sullivan said Monday morning. “If you want to score 30 goals in this league, you’re not getting 30 from the perimeter. You’re not getting 30 highlight-reel goals that end up on ESPN. You gotta get a fair amount of them that are deflections, tips, rebounds. They go off your skate and in because you’re fighting from the blue paint. … So that’s a lot of the game, I think, where Laf has really made a commitment there to embracing that element of the game, and I think he’s getting rewarded for it.”
Igor Shesterkin made his 42nd start of the season for the Rangers and, like the Blueshirts, was going for his fifth consecutive win. He entered the night with a .936 save percentage during that stretch. … Juuso Parssinen, Vincent Iorio and Jonny Brodzinski were the scratches against the Kings.
