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Watch: 8 players ejected as New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils throw down in epic 5v5 line brawl to start game
The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils kicked off their game on Wednesday night with an intense 5 vs. 5 line brawl right off the opening faceoff. The bad blood boiled over just 2 seconds into the contest, as all 10 skaters on the ice dropped their gloves and went at it.
The main event saw Rangers forward Matt Rempe square off with Devils' Kurtis MacDermid. Their rivalry started when Rempe knocked New Jersey's Jonas Siegenthaler out of a previous matchup on March 11. Rempe and MacDermid continued their lengthy fight for a minute after the other bouts ended.
Eight players were ejected just seconds into the game. The Rangers lost defensemen Rempe, Jacob Trouba, K'Andre Miller and forward Barclay Goodrow. The Devils saw defensemen Kevin Bahl and John Marino, with forwards Chris Tierney and MacDermid ejected.
Other fights included Miller vs. Marino, Trouba vs. Tierney, Goodrow vs. Bahl, and New York's Jimmy Vesey against New Jersey's Curtis Lazar - the only two who avoided ejections.
All 10 players were also given five-minute penalties for fighting.
New York Rangers win 4-3 against the Devils
Artemi Panarin opened the scoring for the New York Rangers with a one-timer goal at 9:22 of the first period, set up by Alexis Lafreniere. Lafreniere made it 2-0 late in the first on a rebound finish.
Despite the early fireworks, the New York Rangers regrouped to win the game 4-3 behind Chris Kreider's game-winning goal. The victory boosted the first-place Rangers to 51-21-4 in the Metropolitan Division race.
The Devils rallied in the second period with Ondrej Palat and Brendan Smith goals to tie it up 2-2. Nico Hischier gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead on a one-timer halfway through the second off a setup from Jesper Bratt.
In the third, Kaapo Kakko knotted the score at 3-3 by capitalizing on a Luke Hughes mistake. Chris Kreider netted the eventual game-winner for the Rangers at 15:03, deflecting in an Adam Fox shot after a zone entry by Artemi Panarin.
Igor Shesterkin made 17 saves in the win, while Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 37 shots for the Devils.
At 36-36-4, the Devils remain six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot with six games remaining.
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