Overhead angle of 5v5 Rangers-Devils brawl is pure chaos

Everyone knew Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid were going to drop the gloves on Wednesday night during the New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils game. What we didn’t know was that the entire starting lineup would get in on the fighting. 

The Hudson River rivalry is a staple in the NHL, and that has continued in the 2023-24 season. The Devils have been fired up ever since Rempe laid a big hit on Nathan Bastian in February, earning a match penalty. In March, MacDermid urged Rempe to answer the bell, but Rempe refused. Later in that game, a dangerous hit on Jonas Siegenthaler led to a game misconduct and a four-game suspension for Rempe. He angered the Devils again by cheekily waving as he was ushered off the ice.

Fast forward to the final meeting of the season between the Rangers and Devils on Wednesday night. Peter Laviolette and Travis Green knew what they were doing when they put Rempe and MacDermid in their respective starting lineups. They knew that having these players on the ice at puck drop meant the fighting would happen just after the opening face-off.

How the Rangers-Devils brawl went down

The second the puck dropped, chaos broke out. In addition to Rempe vs. MacDermid, all other skaters on the ice engaged in a fight. This included Jimmy Vesey vs. Curtis Lazar, K’Andre Miller vs. John Marino, Barclay Goodrow vs. Kevin Bahl, and Jacob Trouba vs. Chris Tierney.

The 5v5 battle was wild. In this overhead view, it’s clear that Vesey and Lazar went after each other first. Next was Goodrow and Bahl. Then, the expected matchup of Rempe vs. MacDermid got going. Trouba and Tierney found each other just as Miller and Marino squared up. One by one the fights wrapped up as players were separated by the officials and sent to the penalty box. Rempe and MacDermid were the last ones to be broken up.

Each of the 10 players who fought received five-minute majors. All of the players involved besides Vesey and Lazar were thrown out of the game. Vesey and Lazar fought first, so the players who engaged in fighting after the initial fight began were assessed game misconducts per the rulebook.

Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin skated out of the crease and appeared on the right-hand side of the video while Rempe and MacDermid continued their fight. Alas, there was no goalie fight. There was quite a bit of jawing between the head coaches, though. Laviolette and Green had a heated exchange.

A few minutes later, Dawson Mercer stepped up when he took issue with Will Cuylle hitting Brendan Smith. Mercer engaged in his first career fight, leading to a 10-minute misconduct, a five-minute penalty for fighting, and a two-minute minor for instigating. There was certainly a lot of action in the first period.

Were the teams expecting five-on-five fighting? As Green pointed out in his post-game interview, "I don't think you would have saw Johnny Marino on the ice if we were anticipating a five-on-five.” Green claimed that although they weren’t planning for it, the Devils were more than willing. He also noted that this never would have happened if something had happened the game before, referencing MacDermid’s attempt to fight Rempe in March.

In his post-game interview, Laviolette noted that his players involved in the face-off and also the rest of the lineup “battled hard for each other.” Each team was down four players, meaning there were a lot of tired skaters on both sides. 

While the Devils succeeded in getting the Rangers to answer the bell for Rempe's bad hits, it was the Rangers who prevailed on the scoreboard. They pushed back with a strong third period after going down 3-2 in the second. The Rangers won the game 4-3, completing a season sweep of the Devils.