Will Cuylle and Johnathan Kovacevic dropped the gloves tonight in New Jersey, right after a big check from the Rangers forward.
Gino Hard shared both the check and the tilt that followed right after it.
The frame shows Cuylle, No. 50, gesturing near the blue line as Kovacevic, No. 8, skates away and an official moves in.
That's old-school accountability. A big check, an immediate answer, and everybody gets back to work.
It's like a pickup basketball game where a hard foul gets settled right there on the court before anybody checks the score.
Cuylle has 6 points on a $3,900,000 cap hit.
Kovacevic, on a $4,000,000 deal, had dressed only once before tonight.
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Check out the fight here
Big hit turns into heated showdown between Will Cuylle and Johnathan Kovacevic
It came two nights after Matt Rempe dropped the gloves with Jeffrey Viel at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers came in at 6-2-0, riding a two-game winning streak.
They're 5-0-0 at home but just 1-2-0 on the road.
Dylan Garand sits at .951 with Igor Shesterkin out long-term.
Off the ice, the Rangers added goalie depth today, with James Reimer signing a tryout in Hartford.
Mika Zibanejad leads New York with 8 points.
New Jersey came in at 3-3-0 after a 5-4 overtime win in Detroit on Tuesday.
That came a night after a 4-1 home loss to Ottawa.
Jack Hughes has 8 points, including 2 game-winners.
Jesper Bratt adds 7 points, 4 of them on the power play.
Nico Hischier has 3 power-play goals, so the Rangers can't afford to spend the rest of the night in the box.
Sheldon Keefe and Mike Sullivan both got the kind of energy they want out of this rivalry.
Jake Allen sits at .885 in the New Jersey crease.
Does this set the tone for the rest of the night?
The Rangers visit Columbus on Saturday, while the Devils head to Washington for an afternoon game.
These teams meet twice more in December. After tonight, nobody should expect those games to be quiet or polite.
Was Will Cuylle's check worth answering with a tilt?
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