There is a new signature sound at Madison Square Garden.
The anticipatory humming that permeates the air when Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom pick up speed as they come down the ice, to land a hit or engage in a puck battle behind the visitor’s net, eventually detonates the crowded stands as one or both make contact.
That’s just a byproduct of watching two 6-foot-7-plus hockey players reincarnate the Mighty Ducks’ Bash Brothers.
The Rangers’ Matt Rempe (73) and Adam Edstrom (84) battle for position in front of Islanders goalie Henrik Tikkanen.
Just call Edstrom Fulton Reed, and Rempe can be Dean Portman.
It could be a recurring act at the Garden this season.
In the wake of Jimmy Vesey’s week-to-week lower-body injury, it is certainly an option to start.
Edstrom and Rempe have flanked the Rangers fourth line in two exhibition games this preseason, one of which free-agent signee Sam Carrick skated in the middle.
It forged a unit with size, strength and a mean bite.
“It was fun, for sure,” Carrick told The Post after the second Devils exhibition game earlier this week. “They’re two big bodies, but they can fly around there. I thought we had a really good start. Remps had a couple big hits and got the crowd into it, as he does. It makes things easier for me, to settle in.
“I got those two guys creating energy and I can just kind of read off them. I think we did a pretty good job, especially early on, to bring some momentum for the team.”
Jonny Brodzinski got the nod with Carrick and Rempe in the Rangers’ 5-2 loss to the Islanders in their preseason finale Friday night at UBS Arena, which was supposed to be the closest thing to a dress rehearsal for Opening Night.
Opening the scoring on the night, the 31-year-old ripped a shot from the top of the zone that bounced over Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov and in.
The Rangers have relied on Brodzinski in a depth role for four seasons now, which could give him a leg up on Edstrom in the competition for the final lineup spot.
Plus, Brodzinski would have to be put on waivers to be sent down to Hartford and Edstrom would not.
Head coach Peter Laviolette may understandably prefer to give the fourth line a scoring touch with Brodzinski, especially if he wants a different element to complement Rempe and Carrick.
Matt Rempe on the ice during the Rangers’ preseason game on Tuesday.
But if the Rangers want to lean into the identity the fourth line began to take on last season — a sometimes chaotic, momentum-changing unit that made opponents feel every shift against them — then Edstrom would be the way to go.
There is a certain pop Edstrom and Rempe bring to a game, the team and the general atmosphere.
It’s contagious. It’s buildable. It’s a tool Laviolette can have in his back pocket.
Edstrom and Rempe got a run of eight games together as the Towering Wings last season, seven of which came with Barclay Goodrow at center.
The statistics are skewed since it was during a time when the rookies were still earning Laviolette’s trust and, therefore, ice time.
Both forwards, however, have been praised by Laviolette for coming into training camp prepared and in tremendous shape.
“They were really good,” Laviolette said of Edstrom, Carrick and Rempe. “They’re physical. I thought they were our best line early, for sure. Every time they were on the ice, they put it behind them, they put it in the offensive zone. They bring physicality, and then the pucks go to the net and good things happen. That’s how you score goals, so it was really positive for them. I thought they were a strong line for us.”
Adam Edstrom of the New York Rangers celebrates his game-winning goal against the New York Islanders earlier in September.
The Rangers signed Carrick to a three-year, $3 million deal this offseason to replace Goodrow, who was waived and subsequently picked up by the Sharks.
The playoff pedigree is not the same, considering Carrick’s only NHL playoff experience came last year with the Oilers, but the 32-year-old is of the same gritty genetic makeup.
Cutting the cost of the role was the goal, not changing it.
Carrick, who is generously listed at 6-feet tall, is known to be a pest.
One conversation with the veteran and it was apparent how much he feels like he fits alongside players who play the game like Rempe and Edstrom.
Sam Carrick of the New York Rangers goes up against Alexander Romanov and Anthony Duclair of the New York Islanders during the third period at UBS Arena on October 4, 2024 in Elmont, New York.
It also didn’t take long for Carrick to notice the energy, the feeling and the way the crowd reacts to the trio coming in on the forecheck.
“I think that’s my game, too,” Carrick said of watching the two big bodies. “I think all three of us can be in on the forecheck and I think we’re all reliable players. As a centerman, sometimes it’s my job to be a little bit more patient and let them kind of get in there. That’s fine, I can make reads off them, but I think we all know it. We’re all interchangeable.
“Whether one of them is down low and I’m playing wing throughout a shift, you know, that happens sometimes. I think as we play more together and get more chemistry, I think that’ll only get better.”
Artemi Panarin (lower-body) skated on Friday, according to Laviolette.
The star Russian wing is still classified as day-to-day.
