Rangers and Devils Start Up Early

Cam Janssen fights Mike Rupp. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Rangers and Devils Start Up Early

Dec 21, 2011 2:39 AM David M Singer

It took nothing but the drop of the puck for the gloves to also hit the ice in New Jersey last night. That's generally what happens when both coaches decide to start the game with their fourth line.

Mike Rupp and Cam Janssen had a typically long Janssen-esque fight. Rupp landed some punches, while Janssen locked him out best he could, trying to wait it out until Rupp was fatigued. The strategy was starting to work, but Rupp was able to use his reach advantage and lock Janssen out until the linesmen stepped in.

Only a couple of minutes later Brandon Dubinsky and David Clarkson met up after a hit along the boards. A few words later Dubinsky had his gloves off and Clarkson followed suit.

Another taker for Big John

Well, no, not really. Deryk Engelland sent Marcus Kruger flying into the boards. Engelland's arm went straight into a bent-over Kruger's head, making for an awkward reaction and it looked like a nasty hit. John Scott didn't give Engelland much of a choice at that point and was able to use his albatross-like wingspan to control the fight easily. If he and Zdeno Chara keep fighting I'm going to run out of bird wingspan metaphors; and if they fight each other, Mike Cvik better be around or the pictures of it will look like something out of Gulliver's Travels.

Scott received the instigator package. Engelland received no extra penalty on the play.

Go Tom K

There's no need to root for any one player on this site, almost all who are mentioned deserve fan support. Tom Kostopoulos has been in a lot of fights, and I'll let the fan voting indicate that he has not won most of them. He's a heart player, one who shows it really is about showing up, but he knocked down Clayton Stoner in front of the home crowd in Calgary last night - and it's something a player like that deserves once in a while. It can't be a complete shocker though, he had a similar bout with Kevin Bieksa last season.

Videos added

Clayton Stoner vs Tom Kostopoulos Dec 20, 2011
Brad Staubitz vs Tim Jackman Dec 20, 2011
Brandon Dubinsky vs David Clarkson Dec 20, 2011
Michael Rupp vs Cam Janssen Dec 20, 2011
John Scott vs Deryk Engelland Dec 20, 2011
Brad Staubitz vs Andrew Alberts Dec 19, 2011
Kyle Clifford vs Jay Rosehill Dec 19, 2011
Cory Sarich vs Bryan Bickell Dec 18, 2011
Jared Boll vs Ryan Reaves Dec 18, 2011
Dane Byers vs Roman Polak Dec 18, 2011

Comments

Well spoken, but,........we still have Zenon Konopka to be thankfull for,....
Posted by CJ Olcanhenry on 2011-12-22 14:41:21 What ashame the way the NHL has turned out this year. Hockey is hockey and it's the sport we all love, but to basically get rid of the fighters fighter in one fell swoop is sad. Colton Orr, Jody Shelley and Steve MacIntyre are getting paid vast sums of money to sit in the press box and watch their teams play. Eric Godard, D.J. King, Raitis Ivanans, Zack Stortini and Trevor Gillies are banished to the AHL. The day of the heavyweight bangers is now gone in the NHL and nobody seems to be shedding a tear. Hockey will always be the greatest sport in the world, but aside from Brian McGrattan who somehow has managed to survive probably his last year of playing in the big time it's just a sad state of affairs to see the true heavyweight fighter, who for years has always gave every ounce of blood, sweat and tears he had to protect his team and see to it that they don't get hurt. Fighting is still in the game but it's a new breed of middleweight and light heavyweight. We will truly miss the big time heavies who have put on a real show for what a fighter is in the world of hockey.
Posted by FlyersFighters on 2011-12-22 02:55:34