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The National Hockey League didn’t prevent New York Rangers rookie forward Matt Rempe from appearing in the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, April 5. Head coach Peter Laviolette, however, did so by making Rempe a healthy scratch before the weekend.
The Rangers faced and defeated the Red Wings 4-3 on Friday, the first contest played by New York before the infamous game against the Devils.
Rempe missed that game, but not for disciplinary reasons. According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the NHL won’t apply any further suspensions to the players involved in the brawl that erupted on April 3 in the game between New York and New Jersey.
“(There won’t be any supplementary suspensions) because it was so well handled by the on-ice officials there is no reason for the National Hockey League to follow up with any additional discipline,” Dreger reported. “They called fighting majors, of course, but they also ejected the players.
“If they left it at fighting majors, perhaps the nastiness that we saw off the opening faceoff would turn into something far more ugly later in the game.”
Matt Rempe Missed Friday’s Game Against Detroit
The brawl, which involved all 10 players on the ice at the start of the game, resulted in eight ejections and started just two seconds into the matchup.
“I thought we were going to have a good five minutes in [the penalty box] with the fellas, we were all going to meet and huddle up there, getting cozy and having a good time, but they came over and said that we were gone,” Rempe told reporters after practice on Thursday, April 4, via Mollie Walker of the New York Post.
The referees ruled Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey as the first player to engage in a fight with the Devils’ Curtis Lazar. All other Rangers players involved in fights after that (Rempe, Barclay Goodrow, Jacob Trouba, and K’Andre Miller) were ejected for secondary fighting.
That, however, didn’t rule out Rempe for Friday’s matchup. Even then, Rempe missed the game, keeping his season-long stat line intact: an average of 5:26 TOI, 1 goal, 1 assist… and 69 minutes in penalties through a measly 14 games played.
Rangers Don’t Miss Rempe, Deal With Red Wings
The Rangers, who lead the NHL with 108 points in 76 games, didn’t need rookie goon Rempe to hand Detroit a hurting defeat on Friday.
New York got a 4-3 win right before the weekend, its 52nd this season, thanks to a fantastic, 2-goal performance by Barclay Goodrow. Rookie Will Cuylle opened the score for the visitors while Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, and Dylan Larkin were the goalscorers on Detroit’s side.
Although the Rangers knew they were getting into a proverbial fight by facing a Red Wings team trying to clinch a postseason berth, New York didn’t include Rempe in their active squad for the game.
“We knew how hard they were going to play,” goalie Jonathan Quick told reporters in his postgame press conference on April 5. “We did a great job sticking to our structure, blocking shots, and clearing pucks when we needed.”
With the win, New York finished the regular-season series against Detroit sweeping the Red Wings 3-0.
“Tonight was fun,” Goodrow said. “I’d like to do it more often. It’s always nice to contribute and help the team in any way to win.”
Rempe will have another opportunity to get into the Rangers lineup and on the ice on Sunday when New York hosts the Montreal Canadiens to cap the first weekend of April.
The Red Wings (82 points in 76 games) are tied with the Washington Capitals in the chase for the second wild-card berth allowing a team into the playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers (83 points in 77 games) are currently in possession of the WC2 spot.
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