New Jersey Devils’ forward Kurtis MacDermid spoke to the media and addressed Matt Rempe's hits on Nathan Bastian and Jonas Siegenthaler.
On Monday night, 18,006 fans inside Madison Square Garden cheered when New Jersey Devils forward Kurtis MacDermid was on the ice with New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe.
The newly acquired Devils winger skated straight towards Rempe, who declined to fight five minutes after the start of the first period.
To fully understand why an early fight was expected between the two players, one must go back to the last meeting between the clubs on Feb. 22.
A little over two minutes into that game, Nathan Bastian took a hit up high from Rempe, which resulted in the latter getting a match penalty and ejected from the game. Trainers came out to assist the 6-foot-4 winger, who was bleeding onto the ice.
Bastian's teammate, Jonas Siegenthaler, saw the hit and engaged with Rempe on the other side of the ice but never dropped his gloves.
For clarification purposes, Bastian returned that game, was hit by and then fought Jacob Trouba in the second period, and then exited the game. During his post-game press conference, then-head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed that Rempe's hit was not the reason Bastian could not return.
"He suffered another injury later that took him out of the game, that had nothing to do with the (Rempe) hit," he said.
NHL Player Safety did not hold a hearing for Rempe's hit on Bastian.
MacDermid was not part of the Devils' roster at this time but was aware of the hit before the puck dropped on Monday night.
"I knew about the hit on Bastian going into this game," MacDermid said. "First shift, I asked him (to fight). There's a bit of a code, and I thought he would have answered that, but I don't know what he was told, but he said no. But after a hit like that, it kind of goes without saying you should answer the bell in some way and be a man about it. And then the game goes on, and he throws another hit like that and gets kicked out and possibly suspended. There's a right way to go about things and a wrong way, and kind of lost a lot of respect for him tonight."
In the final seconds of the middle frame, Rempe went in for a hit on Siegenthaler. Before contact was made, the Rangers forward lifted his elbow, which made contact with Siegenthaler's jaw. MacDermid attempted to go after Rempe, but the referees kept the two apart.
Rempe received a five-minute major for elbowing and game misconduct, while MacDermid received a 10-minute penalty. Siegenthaler did not come out with his team for the third period and missed the remainder of the game.
On Tuesday morning, NHL Player Safety announced Rempe will have a hearing for elbowing Siegenthaler. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic confirmed it will be a phone hearing, meaning it will be five games or less.
The Devils acquired MacDermid on March 1. From the time the signing was announced it was clear why New Jersey acquired him. The 6'5", 235-pound winger is not afraid to drop the gloves, and his 21.94 hits per 60 minutes ranked second on Colorado for the 2023-24 season.
The Devils and Rangers will face each other one final time this season on April 3rd at Madison Square Garden.