Igor Shesterkin was hit and involved in a scuffle during a scuffle for the puck near the net in the third period.
After shaking off some pain, the Rangers goaltender stood up and lunged at Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, who was tangled with Rangers defender Braden Schneider.
A group of Rangers and Senators pushing behind the net immediately tried to intervene.
In the end, when the pile was gone, the Rangers netminder was still grabbing Tkachuk and holding the goaltender's glove over the Sens star's head.
The referee was eventually able to remove Shesterkin from the spot, but somehow Tkachuk got tangled up with Blueshirt tough guy Matt Lempe, and the linesman was forced to struggle desperately to separate the two.
The scene quickly calmed down once authorities took control of the situation.
In the end, the Rangers defeated the Senators 5-0 with goals from Lempe, Alexis Lafreniere, Artur Kaliyev, Artemi Panarin, and Will Quill.
After the game, Lempe admitted he was “a little nervous” watching Shesterkin go after Tkachuk like that.
“I don't want anything to happen to him, but I love him because he's a competitor and I just want to make sure we get in there so nothing happens,” Lempe said. “But Igor is the man.”
Tuesday night's win was a big one as the Rangers continue their quest to get back into the playoff picture.
The Blueshirts (23-20-4) are just two points shy of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and Tuesday's tilt at Madison Square Garden currently occupies the conference's first wild-card spot. It was especially important for the Senators.
Shesterkin made 20 saves against Ottawa, recording his second consecutive shutout.
