The New York Rangers took Game 3 at Madison Square Garden in a strong win over the Carolina Hurricanes, but the bad blood was starting to percolate by the end of the afternoon.
As the final seconds ticked away and it was clear the New York Rangers were going to get the win, Max Domi took a wack at the back of Ryan Lindgren, who in turn took a shot back at him and set off a scrum to end the game. Eventually, Domi and Lindgren ended up on the ice with each other in a headlock as one of the linesmen tried to tear the two apart.
The ESPN cameras even caught Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant screaming at someone on the Carolina Hurricanes, which appeared to be former New York defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
“No, I wasn’t too happy with the bulls–t at the end of the game that they initiated,” Gallant said about the end of the game. “We didn’t do that when the games were close. They put their guys out, that’s fine. If they want to play like that we got the guys that can match that.”
This series is heating up 🔥🔥
Max Domi and Ryan Lindgren also getting into it after the final buzzer #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/RmkwuWfboV
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 22, 2022
The second-round series has been close since it began last week and no game thus far has been decided by more than two goals, with the two teams being limited in shots and each goaltender playing well. Up until Sunday, New York had been held without a goal since the 7:07 mark of the first period in Game 1.
However, the extracurricular activities at the end of Game 3 certainly appeared to be setting up for a more heated meeting in Game 4 on Tuesday. Chris Kreider, who scored what would become the game-winner, told reporters that he was busy hugging Tyler Motte and missed the excitement at the end of the game.
Gerard Gallant and Tony DeAngelo get into a chirping match at the end of the game 👀🍿 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/uu22tlDRJC
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 22, 2022
It could be inferred that the decision by Domi at the end to go after Lindgren was a calculated move to send a message for Tuesday, which is par for the course during this time of year in the hockey calendar. But Gallant wasn’t a fan of the circumstances, regardless of what the Hurricanes were trying to do.
“I don’t like it at the end of a game,” he said. “The game’s over. We still got four games to go with those guys. They’re not sending any messages. We’ve got the guy that can handle all their guys if we want to and we didn’t do it like that. Domi took a cheap shot at our defenseman. You got a lot of memory in this. You think about things and, like I said, it might be on the other foot someday.”
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Game 4 is set to take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. back at Madison Square Garden. Sunday’s win cut the Hurricanes’ series lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
