Matt Rempe played just 5:16 of ice time in the New York Rangers’ Game Three win over the Washington Capitals but still managed to leave his mark on the night. The hulking forward threw a hit on Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk in the first period that landed him in the penalty box — and landed TVR on the injured list.
The controversial play sparked debate on the legality of Rempe’s check, both for its timing and for Rempe’s head contact on an unsuspecting van Riemsdyk. While the big forward escaped media questioning on the hit postgame, he was asked to give his thoughts after New York’s practice on Saturday.
“I’m getting in on the forecheck,” Rempe said. “I’m getting in there, and my job’s to finish hits there and be hard on the forecheck. I thought it was a clean hit. It was a quick play. I just went through the body. Obviously, you never want anyone to get hurt, and that’s terrible that he’s hurt and I’m sorry to hear about that. But I think it was a clean hit. I was just trying to play hard, move my feet, and be physical.”
Capitals players disagreed with Rempe’s assessment of the hit, as was evident when Tom Wilson challenged the Rangers forward to a fight a period later. Rempe ducked going blow for blow against Washington’s feared enforcer. Several of van Riemsdyk’s teammates also condemned the play during their postgame media availabilities.
“I’ve been told you can’t hit that late,” Wilson said. “It’s a pretty late hit. It’s a target on one of our D. You hate to see it. I think they’ll obviously look at it and take care of it. Seemed like a couple steamboats late to me.”
Officials doled out just a two-minute minor penalty to Rempe for the check. With TVR out of the lineup Sunday for Game Four, Washington has lost four of their blueliners (van Riemsdyk, Rasmus Sandin, Nick Jensen, and Vincent Iorio) to injuries since April 7 — all due to hits.
While Capitals players didn’t mince words when asked about Rempe, head coach Spencer Carbery offered a more measured response to the hit on Saturday.
“I think it’s really close,” he said. “On a bunch of different fronts: from the interference, charging, late. It’s such a fine line because the game is so fast and the physicality is such an important part of the game of hockey and the NHL.”
Carbery paused for several seconds before continuing. “But there is a line, right? And player safety is a big, big issue with our league and protecting players and the players’ onus on them. It’s tight. It’s really, really tight. So I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything on supplemental discipline or how they’re handling that, but it is — because he just turns. I don’t know if there’s a set amount of time that they put on a stop clock of when a guy gets rid of a puck and then it’s one, one thousand, two, one thousand and bang. But yeah, really close.”
The NHL has not announced whether Rempe will face supplemental discipline for the hit. As the Capitals face elimination, the Caps and Rangers will face off for perhaps the final time this season in Game Four at 8 pm on Sunday.
