Rangers-Devils Starts With 5 Fights On Opening Face-Off, 8 Players Ejected

Whoa, baby! We got some old-school NHL "hockey" on Wednesday night when the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils squared-off, literally, at Madison Square Garden. 

Quick refresher for those who aren't aware. The last time the Rangers and Devils met, New York rookie Matt Rempe elbowed Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in the head. Referees assessed Rempe a five-minute major penalty for the play, along with a game-misconduct, and the NHL suspended him for four games. 

Devils tough guy Kurtis MacDermid tried to fight Rempe after the hit, but referees quickly ushered Rempe to the locker room, and he waved to the New Jersey bench on his way off the ice. 

This was the second time this season that Rempe was ejected after hitting a Devils player. On February 22, Rempe blasted Devils forward Nate Bastian in the face. He was given a five-minute major and a game-misconduct for that hit, too. 

So, of course, when the teams met again on Wednesday night, all eyes were on MacDermid and Rempe, who were given the starting nods from their coaches. Neither player usually starts, so everyone in the arena knew what was coming. 

At least, they thought they did. 

Not only did Rempe and MacDermid drop their gloves as soon as the opening face-off hit the ice, ALL the skaters on the ice engaged in fisticuffs. Yes, five simultaneous fights just two seconds into the game. 

Even the two coaches, Peter Laviolette of the Rangers and Travis Green of the Devils, engaged in a war of words following all the bouts. 

When a fight breaks out between two players in the NHL, all other players are forbidden from engaging in further fighting. Referees determined that the fight between Curtis Lazar and Jimmy Vesey technically started first (they had their gloves off the quickest). 

That meant that all the other fights required referees to eject everyone else involved. For the Rangers, Rempe, Barclay Goodrow, K'Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba were all assessed five minutes for fighting along with game-misconducts. 

The Devils' four players – MacDermid, Kevin Bahl, John Marino and Chris Tierney – were also handed the same punishment. 

Matt Rempe of the New York Rangers fights Kurtis MacDermid of the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. 

(Getty Images)

That meant that just two seconds into the game, eight players had been ejected. The penalties added up to 130 minutes (officially, as game-misconducts are counted as 10 penalty minutes). If the game-misconducts counted for the actual ice time missed, the penalties would total over 300 minutes. 

Those weren't even the only fights in the first five minutes of the game. After Rangers forward Will Cuylle hit Devils defenseman Brendan Smith, New Jersey forward Dawson Mercer challenged Cuylle to a fight. 

Mercer received an instigator penalty and a ten-minute misconduct in addition to his five-minute fighting major, while Cuylle received two minutes for boarding on his original check, plus five minutes for fighting Mercer. 

That brought the official penalty minute count to 160 minutes less than five minutes into the game. 

You ever hear the old saying, "I went to see a fight and a hockey game broke out?" I can't think of a better way to describe what happened between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.