RALEIGH, N.C. — Ten games into his NHL career, Matt Lempe already had to introduce himself to George Parros, the NHL’s director of player safety.
Parros on Tuesday suspended Lempe for four games after the Rangers rookie took a high elbow hit to the head of Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler during Monday’s 3-1 win at the Garden. was punished.
Lempe will miss Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes, Thursday’s game against the Lightning, Saturday’s game against the Penguins and Sunday’s game against the Islanders.
Lempe had already drawn the ire of the Devils after he physically tackled Nathan Bastian on Feb. 22, for which he was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct charge. .
The Devils’ newly acquired enforcer, Curtis McDiarmid, tried to get Rempe to answer for his previous hit on Bastian in the first period Tuesday night, but the 6-foot-8-and-a-half forward refused.
After Lempe lined Siegenthaler and fired an elbow, the Devils let Lempe hear it in the moment and in the postgame interview scrum.
McDiarmid actually had to be restrained.
Lempe then waved to McDiarmid as he was escorted off the ice by officials.
“Obviously after a hit like that, you have to answer the bell in some way and be a man,” McDiarmid, 29, said after the game. “Then the game went on and he got sent off for another hit like that.
“There’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. I’ve lost a lot of respect in a way. [Rempe] tonight. “
Travis Green, who was named the Devils’ interim coach after Lindy Ruff was fired last week, said he believed Rempe “intended to cause injury” to Siegenthaler.
“Anyone who knows the game at all knows that player is vulnerable,” he said. “And you can call it predatory or whatever you want to call it, but there are players who are going for it. This is by no means the first time, it’s the second time against us.”
Lempe left bruises after every game during his first three-plus weeks in the NHL.
Some of the toughest players in the league came together for a chance to play against the Calgary native.
First up is Matt Martin of the Islanders. Siegenthaler then stepped in to protect Bastian and caught two punches from Rempe. Next up in Philadelphia was the Flyers’ Nicolas DesLauriers.
Then Columbus’ Mathieu Olivier gave Lempe a “Welcome to the NHL” moment with some serious haymakers, which left the 21-year-old with purple eyes for several days. Ta.
Lempe then danced with former Ranger and current Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reeves at center ice in Toronto in front of the Hockey Night in Canada crowd.
Maple Leafs manager Sheldon Keefe mentioned Lempe’s board-shaking hit on Ilya Lyubushkin earlier this month, saying, “That was good, especially considering that guy knocked one of our guys out of the game.” I think so,” he said. “The players who were injured are now starting to bounce back as well as the game.”
The Rangers fed off Rempe’s energy, which had a ripple effect throughout the lineup, encouraging his new teammates to play more physically.
Despite the time guarded, Rempe not only scored a goal and an assist, but also had an impactful presence on the ice when the Rangers drafted him 165th overall in 2020.
However, out of a total of 56 minutes of ice time, Rempe racked up a whopping 54 minutes of penalty time.
