The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers already have a long-standing history of beef. These cross-river rivals have not relented in sending messages and getting into fistfights with one another since 1982. A new chapter was added to this back on March 11th when Peter Laviolette and Travis Green's squads faced each other. Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid got into it a couple of times but it did not break out into a brawl. The two teams saw each other again and it did not even take two seconds before punches were thrown.
Misconducts were handed to both teams. The Rangers saw Matt Rempe, K'Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, and Barclay Goodrow get dealt with penalties. For the Devils, it was Kurtis MacDermid, Chris Tierney, Kevin Bahl, and John Marino. Both squads' benches became thin because they had four fewer players to put on the ice due to the eight ejections. Only Jimmy Vessey and Curtis Lazar were able to return despite getting involved in the scuffle.
Rangers head honcho Peter Laviolette already expressed his displeasure in getting involved in these types of fights. But, this did not stop either of the team's starters from having their emotions get the best out of them.
Root cause of Devils vs. Rangers brawl
Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid were the stars of this beef. Their first game in March saw the Devils defenseman drop hints of wanting to fight the Rangers rookie. However, Rempe kept declining the offer and declining him. Moments later, the Rangers rookie swung at Jonas Siegenthaler which led to a suspension.
MacDermid then added fuel to the flames after that first Devils-Rangers faceoff, via Vincent Z. Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News.
“First shift I asked him. There's a bit of a code, and I thought he would answer that. I don't know what he was told, but he said, ‘No.'After a hit like that, it kind of goes without saying that you should answer the bell and be a man about it…There's a right way to go about things and a wrong way. I kind of lost a lot of respect for him tonight,” he declared.
Tensions will not look to ease anytime soon between these rivals.
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