The Rangers went the first 21 games of the year without a fighting major.
But now -- just 20 minutes into game No. 22 -- they’ve got two.
After Brandon Pirri scrapped Travis Konecny (in response to boarding Brandon Manning) midway through the first period, Manning tried to exact some revenge himself late in the frame, by taking on big Rangers forward Chris Kreider.
It didn’t go especially well for the Philly blueliner. The two exchanged punches before Kreider landed a glancing blow to finish things off.
The Blueshirts went into the intermission up 2-0, on goals from Derek Stepan and newcomer Matt Puempel. The score wasn’t entirely indicative of the flow of play, however -- Philly out-shot New York 11-7 in the frame, and had several quality scoring chances turned aside by Henrik Lundqvist.