Versatile Rangers forward may have found where he fits best

Where Jesper Fast plays always seems to be fluctuating, but what he brings to the ice does not.

“You know what you get out of him every night,” said center Mika Zibanejad, who, with Chris Kreider on his left, has welcomed Fast onto his right. “He’s going work hard. Obviously like everyone else, the puck’s maybe not going to bounce with you every night, but he really puts the effort in and makes it so much easier for myself but also Kreids and everyone else he plays with.”

An interchangeable piece in the Rangers’ lineup, Fast started off the season on the third line before making his way up to the top line for the past three games.

Fast could only grin when asked why coach David Quinn previously said everyone wants to play with him, but the 26-year-old Swede is enjoying being back with Kreider and Zibanejad after playing with them for a stretch late last season.

“I feel like I can fit everywhere in the lineup, whether it’s the line I’m on now or the third or fourth or second,” Fast said Saturday after practice. “Whatever it is, I feel like I can help my linemates to be successful.”

Quinn has not used the same lineup in consecutive games through the first seven games of the season, but likes the way Fast has played with his new linemates.

“He’s just such an honest player,” Quinn said. “He’s so coachable. He’s got good skills. Such a likable guy that, forget the fact he’s a good hockey player, he just brings an energy to the line.”

In three games since Fast moved to top-line duties, he has faced a trio of challenges in opponent pairings.

On Wednesday, they matched up against the Capitals’ top line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Chandler Stephenson. The night before that, the task was the Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. And last Sunday, the Oilers offered up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Ty Rattie.

The Rangers’ top line held those explosive players to just one goal in five-on-five settings.

“Every time I’ve been bumped up in the past, it’s usually been to play against top lines,” Fast said. “Of course playing with [Kreider and Zibanejad] means a little more head-to-head, like more matchups, really going every shift against them. Of course it’s a challenge, but it’s always fun to play against the best guys.”

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“I think we’ve been pretty good, to be honest with you,” Zibanejad said. “I think there are certainly things we can do better, but the big part of it is it’s the first time really going up head-to-head against those guys for a whole game. … The more and more you do, you get used to how to play against them and not just being afraid of that line against us. We think we’ve been creating quite a bit of scoring chances as well against them.”

Fast has not gotten on the scoresheet since joining the top line, with his one goal and three assists coming in the first four games of the season. But Zibanejad has his first two goals of the season in the past three games, perhaps a sign of things to come as the Rangers try to find their groove.

“Some [room] still to improve, but so far, so good,” Fast said. “Got to keep working hard and hopefully we still get matched up against other teams’ top line and win those battles.”