The start of the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils game was electric.
Immediately off of the opening faceoff, the two teams launched into a line brawl that saw eight players ejected just two seconds into the game. Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid were the main event as the two heavyweights squared off for nearly a minute.
The fireworks occurred due to Rempe injuring Jonas Siegenthaler and taunting the Devils bench the last time the two teams played. Rempe also injured Nathan Bastian in a previous game.
The Fight Card
Kevin Bahl vs Barclay Goodrow
John Marino vs K’Andre Miller
Chris Tierney vs Jacob Trouba
Curtis Lazar vs Jimmy Vesey
Here’s how it looked from Madison Square Garden’s press row via Mollie Walker.
The line brawl resulted in 130 PIMs total — 65 penalty minutes each for the Devils and Rangers.
Jimmy Vesey and Curtis Lazar were the only skaters not ejected because officials determined that their bout was the first to begin. Per NHL rule 46.7, any players who fight after an original altercation are ejected.
46.7 Fighting After the Original Altercation – A game misconduct penalty shall be imposed on any player who is assessed a major penalty for fighting after the original altercation has started. Notwithstanding this rule, at the discretion of the Referee, the automatic game misconduct penalty may be waived for a player in the altercation if the opposing player was clearly the instigator of the altercation.
The bench. pic.twitter.com/ojq3a2U7zK
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 3, 2024
Former Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette and Devils interim head coach Travis Green even got into it at the benches as well.
All in all, there were 162 different penalty minutes in the first period and six different fights. In three games against the Devils this season, Matt Rempe has played only 5:03 of ice time, posting 47 PIMs and 3 ejections.
“How awesome is hockey?” Colby Armstrong said during TNT’s intermission.
The line brawl comes nearly four years after the Capitals-Rangers had a line brawl off an opening faceoff on May 5, 2021. That came two days after the iconic Tom Wilson ‘Horrifying Act of Violence’ game, where the Capitals enforcer tangled with both Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin.
