The Maven offers the Matt Rempe Facts.

What is this thing called Matt Rempe?

Good question:

For starters at almost 6-9 and 240 pounds he's definitely the tallest and heaviest heavyweight champion of the National Hockey League.

He's averaging a goal every three games!

He scored the 2-1 game-winner against the Flyers yesterday on Broad Street.

He comes to play and fight in every game.

Or, he comes to fight -- and play -- every game.

The Rangers win every game in which coach Peter Laviolette dresses him.

And now enemy gorillas are going after the Blueshirts lovable giraffe.

The Flyers resident punch-thrower, Nicolas Deslauriers, started taunting Rempe before the opening face off and -- faster than you can say Jersey Joe Wolcott - the two went at it "throwing bombs," as Rempe puts it.

The slugfest consumed about 40 seconds and, although the Flyer gave away seven inches, he emerged intact once cooler heads prevailed

"It got the juices flowing," Rempe revealed.

True, but whose juices? The Flyers responded with an onslaught of a first period offense that only was deleted by Igor Shesterkin's best first period of the season.

If anything about Matt The Mauler was preposterous it had to be his scoring the winning goal.

Okay, let's be honest. Rempe didn't exactly "shoot" the puck behind goalie Sam Ersson. What happened was that Barclay Goodrow's drive came out of a billiard academy. It hit Rempe's

knee, changed course into a place that made Matty yell, scream and make jokes about it

Rempe; "It may have been the ugliest first goal in history. But I'll take it. My job is to go to the net."

His Lordship Laviolette is all for it. "Matt loves what he does and loves to hit and be physical. He was rewarded going to the net and getting his first goal. It was a pretty good night for him."

The Skating Giraffe has one more thing to say:

"I also like to bang bodies and play fast and hard. That's my game!"

To which The Maven concludes: "That my boy!"