Matt Rempe insists the Rangers’ wild 5v5 brawl with the Devils was a ‘BANGER’ as New York’s bad-boy rookie raves over latest scrap at MSG
Rangers’ Matt Rempe is still reveling in his team’s battle with the Devils on Wednesday night, which involved 10 players and sent off eight.
Immediately after the opening puck in New York, Rangers rookie Rempe and Devils defenseman Kurtis MacDermid dropped their gloves and started brawling.
And a day later Rempe told me USA today that the brawl was a “banger” after his third ejection against the Devils in just 14 career games.
Rempe and MacDermid had history from the last time the Devils visited the Rangers on March 11.
That evening, Kempe declined MacDermid’s offer to fight early in the match. Later in the game, Rempe knocked Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler out of the game with a high elbow and was subsequently suspended for four games.
Matt Rempe of the New York Rangers battles Kurtis MacDermid of the New Jersey Devils
Rempe has now been kicked out of all three of his career meetings with the Devils
However, the pair settled their scores on Wednesday and apparently found common ground.
“He is a very difficult customer,” Rempe told reporters from MacDermid on Thursday.
“That guy’s a big boy. Strong, one of the toughest guys in the league for a long time, and he has his job to do. You have to respect that.’
MacDermid, meanwhile, said after the match: “I will always have a lot of respect for him. He’s a young guy just trying to do his thing to stay in the league, and I understand that.”
Along with Rempe, New York defensemen Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller and forward Barclay Goodrow were ejected from the game, as were New Jersey defensemen Kevin Bahl and John Marino, and forwards Chris Tierney and MacDermid.
The Rangers’ K’Andre Miller and the Devils’ John Marino were also among the 10 players involved
Miller fought Marino, Trouba fought Tierney, Goodrow went against Bahl and Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey fought New Jersey’s Curtis Lazar.
Vesey and Lazar stayed in the game because they fought first and received no additional penalty.
Rempe and MacDermid fought the longest on Wednesday, with their center-ice battle continuing after the other four fights ended. Four players from each team experienced game misconduct 2 seconds into the match.
All ten players received a five-minute fighting penalty. Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette and Devils interim coach Travis Green also became involved in an argument on the sideline after the fight.