Matt Rempe has made a name for himself getting into fights early and often in Rangers games, and the league has taken notice.
Rempe and Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier exchanged pleasantries — no, really — before Sunday’s game that almost immediately featured a fight between the two brawlers.
The two spoke while stretching near the red line about Rempe’s latest bout against Flyers forward Nicolas Deslauriers.
“To be honest, I just told him, ‘Great tilt yesterday and I hope you’re doing alright, because that was a tough one,’” Olivier told the Columbus Dispatch. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’m good,’ so first shift he came and asked me. There’s a lot of respect there for doing that. Kudos to him. He’s doing a good job getting noticed, so that takes, uh, for lack of a better word, that takes some [guts].”
This time, however, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Rempe may have bit off more than he could chew.
Olivier decidedly won the fight, sending Rempe to the ice.
Olivier landed 13 punches to Rempe’s six, and Rempe was sent to the locker room for concussion protocols before returning later in the first period.
The fight may have been a precursor to the game as a whole.
The Rangers, looking for a franchise-record 11th straight win, struggled against the Blue Jackets, who have an Eastern Conference-worst 48 points.
After tying the game up on two separate occasions, the Blue Jackets went ahead for good, scoring 46 seconds after the Rangers made it 2-2 and adding another goal in the last two minutes of the second period.
The Rangers did have a power play late in the third period but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlinkins played outstanding, making 38 saves on 40 Ranger shots.
The Rangers, still ahead in the Metropolitan Division, will look to start another winning streak Wednesday when they host these same Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden.
