Tim Gettinger starting to show improvements in this go-around with Rangers

LOS ANGELES — The Rangers selected 16 skaters — 12 forwards and four defensemen — in the three drafts between 2014 and 2016 through which the team did not have a first-rounder. Of those 16 skaters, Tim Gettinger has played the most games both in the NHL and with the Rangers. That would be a total of 11. That’s not great, Bob. Neither is the fact that Gettinger has an NHL career total of one point via an assist on a Jacob Trouba goal in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2019.

Until Saturday, Gettinger had played fairly forgettable roles in his previous nine games. Even the 23-year-old himself had forgotten that he’d gotten into his first NHL game of this season on Jan. 2, when he played 12:10 in the Rangers’ 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay at the Garden.

“The last one would have been last year,” said the 141st-overall selection of 2016 prior to the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Kings on Monday. “Last year.”

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Gettinger did not accomplish all that much in that one, skating on a line with Greg McKegg in the middle and Ryan Reaves on the right. But the 6-foot-6, 218-pounder sure made an impact with his Wolf Pack-mates in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Anaheim, setting up his big body as a net-front presence throughout the match while working as part of a unit that cycled low with possession and was disruptive in the neutral zone.

Indeed, Gettinger set the screen that blinded Anthony Stolarz on Ryan Lindgren’s 3-1 goal midway through the third period after creating a one-man traffic jam in the final seconds of the second that forced the netminder to make an outstanding save on linemate Johnny Brodzinski from 40 feet away. Gettinger had also broken up a Ducks rush in the neutral zone in the first period that triggered an odd-man rush the other way on which Stolarz denied Barron.

“Being so tall, I always try to get to the net and cause havoc,” Gettinger said. “Me, Mo [Morgan Barron] and Jonny have played with each other before and we just kind of knew what we were going to need to do coming into the lineup.

“We wanted to work hard and be physical. That’s what we were able to do. I think there was definitely a comfort level for me working with the two of them.”

Gettinger got four NHL games in 2018-19 and two in each of the three seasons that have followed. His pro totals are on the rise, the left winger recording 35 points (17-18) in 44 games with the Wolf Pack over the last two seasons after posting 44 points (30-14) in 117 games for Hartford his first two AHL seasons.

“When I’m up I see what these guys do to be in the NHL and be an everyday-er,” said Gettinger, a 30-goal scorer twice in the OHL. “Whether I’m down in Hartford or up here I build up my game and what I can do. Each time I’m up here I think I get more and more comfortable. I just have to keep building.”