Matt Rempe is quickly making enemies in the NHL.
The towering Rangers rookie infuriated the Devils on Monday night with his elbow to the face of New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler that got the 6-foot-8 ½ winger ejected, with a suspension likely looming, and forced Siegenthaler out for the remainder of the Blueshirts’ 3-1 win at the Garden.
Devils defenseman Kurtis MacDermid, who had already challenged Rempe earlier in the game to no avail, wanted to fight the rookie after the hit, but the referees didn’t let it happen, and Rempe waved goodbye to MacDermid as he was escorted off the ice.
Rempe, 21, was also ejected during the Rangers’ win over the Devils on Feb. 22 for hitting forward Nathan Bastian in the head.
“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. Then the game goes on and he throws another hit like that and gets kicked out,” MacDermid, whom the Devils acquired from the Avalanche this month, said after the game.
“There’s a right way to go about things and a wrong way. I kind of lost a lot of respect for [Rempe] tonight.”
MacDermid said he understood why the refs kept him away from Rempe, but he wished he could’ve “taught him a lesson.”
On the wave goodbye, MacDermid said, “He’s a young kid in this league. He has a lot to learn still. You don’t do things like that your first year in the league especially.”
Travis Green, who became the Devils’ interim coach after they fired Lindy Ruff last week, said he thought Rempe had “intent there to injure” Siegenthaler.
“Everyone who knows the game at all knows that that player is in a vulnerable spot,” he said. “And there’s a player that is looking to –– call it predatorial or whatever you want to call it –– it’s definitely not the first time that it’s happened, and second time against us.”
Rempe, who has already become a folk hero at the Garden with his frequent fights, has racked up 54 penalty minutes in just 10 career games.
