It’s been a long time since teams dropped the gloves for a good old-fashioned line brawl at the opening faceoff, at least at the NHL level. The New Jersey Devils and
New York Rangers did just that on Wednesday. Anyone remember the Canadiens vs. Nordiques line brawls of the 1980s? One night after the Pittsburgh Penguins smoked the Devils with five goals in the third period for a 6-3 win and two nights after the Penguins filled the net against the Rangers for a 5-2 win, the Penguins’ rivals went bareknuckles at the start. To no surprise, New York tough guy Matt Rempe started the fights. Of course, there’s a little history between the two teams. After their meeting last month, New Jersey hammer Kurtis MacDermid called out Rempe, saying he’d lost respect for him and challenged him to “be a man” rather than deliver what MacDermid considered a dirty hit on Devils forward Nathan Bastian. It took exactly one second for the boys to settle their score, and everyone else joined in. A 5v5 fight, including K’Andre Miller vs. John Marino . Referees ejected eight of the 10 players. Only the Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey and the Devils’ Curtis Lazar weren’t tossed because they were cataloged as the first fight. Everyone else had a short night. Who knew losing to the Penguins would make teams so mad? A FULL ON 5v5 LINE BRAWL TO START THE GAME CHAOS AT MSG pic.twitter.com/k95BsP34xA — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 3, 2024 This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.