SEE IT: Rangers, Devils start game with line brawl at Madison Square Garden
The Hudson River Rivalry is in full effect.
The past two times the Rangers and Devils faced off, young enforcer Matt Rempe has found himself square in the middle of some controversial moments and Wednesday it came to a head.
Rempe and Devils enforcer Kurtis MacDermid found themselves at center ice for the opening face-off and chaos ensued...
This feud dates back to the teams' first meeting of the season, a Rangers win at the Prudential Center. The 21-year-old Rempe was ejected just 2:25 seconds into the contest after a high hit along the boards on Nathan Bastian.
Just a few days later, New Jersey acquired MacDermid in a trade, so many expected the youngster to have to answer for the hit when the two teams matched up again.
When the time came around, though, Rempe turned down all offers from MacDermid as the veteran hunted him around the ice all night.
The biggest opportunity came during the second period when Rempe was ejected again for throwing a high elbow to the head of defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, however, he was skated off by refs before MacDermid could get to him.
The veteran ripped into Rempe postgame for not answering the bell, as part of the unwritten rules of hockey, saying he "lost a lot of respect for him."
When the two were back in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s contest, everyone around the hockey world knew that the time had come for confrontation.
As a result of the line brawl, eight players night came to an end due to a game misconduct including Rempe, MacDermid, Jacob Trouba, Kevin Bahl, Barclay Goodrow, Chris Tierney, John Marino and K'Andre Miller.
