LOS ANGELES — There was an air of familiarity for the Rangers and Kris Knoblauch when the coach of the AHL Wolf Pack stepped behind the New York bench here on Monday in relief of COVID-positive Gerard Gallant.

For not only had Knoblauch led the Blueshirts for six games a year ago on a similar interim basis when he was summoned to stand in for the stricken then-head coach David Quinn, the Rangers’ entire, current fourth line was in Hartford not more than two weeks ago.

That unit, constructed by Gallant for Saturday’s 4-1 victory in Anaheim in the wake of absences of varsity forwards Ryan Reaves, Julien Gauthier and Dryden Hunt, consisted of Morgan Barron skating between Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski.

Indeed, there are Hartford guys all over. Keith Kinkaid is the backup goaltender. Forwards Lauri Pajuniemi and Anthony Greco are skating on the taxi squad and so are defensemen Zac Jones and Tarmo Reunanen. Greg McKegg was in Hartford early in the season. Jarred Tinordi and Libor Hajek played for the Wolf Pack on conditioning assignments.

Fact is that Barclay Goodrow, Nils Lundkvist and Patrik Nemeth were the only three Rangers on the roster for this match against the Kings who had not played a game for Knoblauch either this year in the AHL or last year in the NHL. Knoblauch will remain behind the New York bench for at least Thursday’s game in San Jose, as well, with Gallant having the NHL’s mandatory five-day isolation period after receiving Sunday’s positive test result.

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, Gettinger has played the most games both in the NHL and with the Rangers. That would be a total of 10. 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. “Last year.”

Gettinger did not accomplish all that much in that one skating on a line with McKegg in the middle and Reaves on the right. But the 6-foot-6, 218-pounder sure made an impact with his Pack-mates on Saturday, 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 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.”