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New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens enforcers Matt Rempe and Arber Xhekaj took the spotlight in a Sunday night Original Six matchup.
It was early in the second period when the two fighters decided to drop their gloves. Rempe met with Xhekaj in the corner, bumping him on a forecheck. They both proceeded to the front of the net and despite minimal contact, they began to throw punches shortly after.
After Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes froze the puck, Xhekaj pushed Rempe away from the net. Suddenly, the Rangers right winger threw his gloves to the ice and grabbed the Habs defenseman.
Xhekaj took three punches from Rempe before throwing some of his own. They both got their licks in on each other and got a fair share of punches to connect. Montreal’s D-man connected with a few left punches but New York’s enforcer answered with a couple rights of his own. It all came to an end when Xhekaj wrapped his arms around Rempe and took him down to the ice.
Rempe was given an extra two minutes in the box for roughing and they both received five-minute majors for fighting.
It’s been a fiery battle between the Blueshirts and Habs. In the first period, four players were sent to the box for roughing as a result of one massive scrum near the benches.
Between Rempe and Xhekaj, they combine for 344 penalty minutes, despite only featuring in 164 games in their careers.
Xhekaj almost got involved in another fight on Saturday against Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves. The Maple Leafs right winger challenged the 23-year-old to a fight while Montreal had a 3-0 lead in the first period.
However, Xhekaj waved Reaves away and pointed to the scoreboard, suggesting that it wouldn’t be wise for him to concede to a tilt that might give the Maple Leafs some energy. It slightly backfired though as the Leafs went on to record seven unanswered goals in a 7-3 victory for Toronto.
According to HockeyFights, the Habs blueliner has been in three fights this season, and the Rempe tilt was his fourth of the campaign. His last fight was against Patrick Maroon of the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 3.
As for Rempe, this is his first NHL fight of 2025 and fourth of the season. His first was a dance with Washington Capitals defenseman Dylan McIlrath. The 22-year-old also took part in two fights in the minors with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack
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