Matt Rempe and Ryan Reaves renewed their fist-slinging rivalry on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The two ultra-heavyweights dropped their gloves at center ice just 5:55 into the first period, their second fight against one another after warring during Rempe’s viral rookie season in 2023-24.
Both players landed haymakers, knocking each other’s helmet off. Reaves, the former Rangers forward, landed more of the heavy punches, knocking Rempe off balance and to the ice during the middle of the bout. The self-proclaimed “lion in the jungle” also remained the only player standing when the officials ended the duel despite having his jersey over his head.
Rempe, standing at 6-foot-9 and weighing in at 261 pounds, and Reaves, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, both received five-minute major penalties for fighting. While serving his penalty, Rempe returned to New York’s locker room and was ruled out of the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.
The two enforcers first got acquainted during warmups after Reaves chatted with Rangers star Artemi Panarin.
Rempe and Reaves’ first fight came when the latter was still with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The tussle was the first of five fights for Rempe at the end of that season against some of the NHL’s toughest enforcers, also including Matt Martin (NYI), Nicolas Deslauriers (PHI), Mathieu Olivier (CBJ), and Kurtis MacDermid (NJD).
The then 21-year-old winger had gotten into seven AHL fights with the Hartford Wolf Pack before being promoted to the Rangers. In his NHL career, he has now dropped the gloves 10 total times.
The fight was Rempe’s first of the season and Reaves’ second after he traded blows with Ross Johnston (ANA) earlier this month.
Neither Rempe (0:19 TOI) nor Reaves (4:17 TOI) contributed any points in the first two periods of the game.
