The New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils were all set to faceoff Monday night. As the two teams lined up to take the opening puck drop, words were apparently exchanged. Whatever was said led to a brawl just after the puck hit the ice. Three fights broke out simultaneously, with the the Rangers' Stu Bickel, Mike Rupp and Brandon Prust taking on the Devils' Ryan Carter, Eric Boulton and Cam Janssen, respectively.
The fight led to 50 minutes worth of penalties from the referees. Bickel actually drew blood from Carter, and Prust and Janssen were the last two to be pulled apart. Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador earned a 10-minute misconduct for trying to pull Bickel away from Carter while the two were down on the ice with Bickel still throwing punches.
Following the hubbub, Rangers coach John Tortorella and Devils coach Peter DeBoer were seen screaming at each other from their respective benches. Then the two teams actually started playing a hockey game. Brandon Dubinsky scored at the 1:11 mark of the first period to put New York on top 1-0. Coming to the close of the second period, one goal remains the difference, with the Rangers leading 3-2.
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