Matt Rempe’s history of Devils bedlam is just 5 minutes long
Matt Rempe has made quite an impression on the Devils in just five minutes.
The hulking Rangers rookie has played just a handful of shifts against their Hudson River rivals — a total of 5:03 of ice time — but has racked up an astounding 47 penalty minutes, including ejections in all three games vs. the Devils.
New Jersey’s beef with Rempe culminated in a full-scale line brawl on Wednesday night at the Garden just two seconds in with 132 total penalty minutes and eight ejections before the Rangers won, 4-3.
Here’s a brief history of Rempe and the Devils:
Feb. 22, 2024
Rempe laid a massive hit on Nathan Bastian that left the Devils forward blooded and bound for the locker room.
Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler challenged Rempe to answer the bell but wilted after two punches from the 6-foot-8 1/2 bruiser.
Still, the hit on Bastian ended Rempe’s night just 2:25 into the game, thanks to a match penalty with another two-minute roughing infraction tacked on.
Totals: 1 shift, 0:13 time on ice, 17 PIM
March 11, 2024
The Devils, itching to hand out some retribution, were instead left further bruised and upset with the Rangers rookie.
Rampe levied an elbow to Siegenthaler’s face late in the second period and enraged defenseman Kurtis MacDermid — who tried to engage Rempe earlier in the night — by not dropping the gloves.
Rempe didn’t make things better, waving to an irate MacDermid as he was ushered off the ice by referees after being dealt a five-minute major for elbowing and a 10-minute misconduct.
“After a hit like that, it kind of goes without saying you should answer the bell in some way and be a man about it. Then the game goes on and he throws another hit like that and gets kicked out,” MacDermid said after the game.
Totals: 8 shifts, 4:48 TOI, 15 PIM
April 3, 2024
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette re-inserted Rempe into the lineup for a third tilt with the Devils, setting the stage for some fist-filled fireworks.
As soon as the puck hit the ice on the opening face-off, gloves dropped to the ice and the punches went flying.
MacDermid finally squared off with Rempe, with the pair throwing some heavy blows in a minute-long dust-up as all 10 skaters engaged in an all-out line brawl at center ice.
When the chaos finally ended, both Rempe and MacDermid were ejected, along with the Rangers’ Barclay Woodrow, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller, and the Devils’ Kevin Bahl, Chris Tierney and John Marino.
“Our guys were reacting to what was happening on the ice,” Laviolette said after the win. “I thought they did a fantastic job. All five of them.”
The combatants totaled 132 penalty minutes between them — with their teammates adding an additional 30 minutes’ worth of infractions in a testy opening period.
Totals: 1 shift, 0:02 TOI, 15 PIM
