NHL fans who remember the days of the Broad Street Bullies got a dose of nostalgia Saturday in Philadelphia thanks to New York Rangers rookie great Matt Rempe and fierce Flyers veteran Nicolas Deslauriers.
The visiting Rangers tied a franchise record with their 10th straight win, but other than New York's 2-1 win, the game will be remembered as what ESPN announcer Sean McDonough called a “heavyweight battle.”
Rempe, the 6-foot-10 Calgary native who famously got into a fight on his first shift in his debut last week, dropped the gloves again in the first period on Saturday.
“You don’t see a lot of it anymore,” ESPN commentator and former NHL star Ray Ferraro told play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough.
“That’s what I was thinking,” McDonough agreed. “Reminiscent of the old days of this rivalry.”
Nicolas Deslauriers (44) of the Flyers and Matt Rempe (73) of the Rangers fight in the first third
Rempe (in white) is seen with some injuries to his face during the brawl with Deslauriers
Deslauriers pulls Remp's jersey over his head before scoring a takedown in the epic brawl
The Flyers' slightly disfigured Nicolas Deslauriers reacts after the fight in the first period on Saturday
Both players landed violent blows, with the 1.90 meter tall Deslauriers suffering a cut on his forehead from Rempe's hard right hand. The fight ended with Rempe's shirt being pulled over his head by Deslauriers, who then attacked the rookie on the ice.
“This is a good old-fashioned hockey fight,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said.
Laviolette added, “It was definitely good.”
Rempe got the last laugh, scoring his first NHL goal and improving his lifetime record to a perfect 4-0.
Fans absolutely loved the violence on the ice.
“Both were great but Rempe made the decision,” one wrote on X. “I got my ticket to Rocky whoops Rempe 2.”
'What. “A. Tilt,” wrote another.
Many reveled in the nostalgia: “We all miss that.” Aka old school fans.'
However, although all fans agreed that the fight was entertaining, they did not agree on who won the brawl.
“6'7 and my brother got applause,” said an online judge.
Others disagreed: “Rangers Recking Ball Rempe made him shine.”
Fans were divided over the winner, but everyone seemed to agree that the fight was a rare treat
Things between the two actually started during pre-game warmups when both were seen calling each other out.
Apparently the hostility carried over into the game.
“He asked me during warmups,” Rempe said. “He's a really tough customer and said, 'Let's go.'” It was a great fight. We threw bombs. It got the tension flowing and it was unreal.”
It's been quite a week for Rempe, who made his NHL debut Sunday in a Stadium Series game on his first shift against Islanders tough guy Matt Martin and a blow to the head from New Jersey's Nathan Bastian in 5. New York -1 win over the Devils on Thursday.
Rempe started with 22 penalty minutes in just 9:47 minutes of ice time in three career games. The 33-year-old veteran Deslauriers is no stranger to the penalty box, having served 729 minutes in 635 games as of Saturday.
The confrontation seemed to get both teams excited to start the afternoon and started a very special day for Rempe.
“He had a great game,” Laviolette said. “Had a great fight. Had big hits. Place the puck behind the defense. He's been doing great since he's been here. You can tell the players in the locker room love having him here. He loves hitting and being physically active.'
Rangers and Flyers fans in Philly quickly grabbed their cell phones to record the fight
Alexis Lafrenière gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 8:04 left in the second period when his wrist shot beat Ersson on 4-on-4 play. It was his 17th of the season and third in two games.
The goal capped a wild sequence that began when Philadelphia's Garnet Hathaway was whistled for a double minor high stick penalty. Philadelphia, which led the NHL with 13 shorthanded goals and had the league's second-best penalty kill unit, almost got on the court, but Scott Laughton's wrist shot that beat Shesterkin went off the crossbar.
Lafrenière nearly scored on the power play two minutes after Laughton's miss, but Ersson saved the game, parrying the backhand attempt with an excellent save on the left pad. Philadelphia then almost had another big shorthanded chance, but Artemi Panarin saved Cam Atkinson, which led to a Rangers penalty and the 4-on-4 situation.
Philadelphia tied the score 2:36 into the third when Foerster took the lead behind the net after a nifty pass from Laughton.
Philadelphia's leading scorer, Travis Konecny, was unable to play due to an upper-body injury. He has 27 goals and 54 points.