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New York Rangers winger Ryan Reaves had some regrets after Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Not about the result, which was a 3-1 Rangers victory at Madison Square Garden that cut their series deficit to 2-1. But about the immediate aftermath.
Reaves was on the ice at the final buzzer when Carolina forward Max Domi gave Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren a cross-check in New York’s zone, leading to the two wrestling to the ice. Meanwhile, Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo was trading words with the Rangers’ bench, causing an irate coach Gerard Gallant to snap back.
“You never want to see a guy chirping your bench,” Reaves said. “I wish I would have seen that. I was looking more at the Domi/Lindgren thing. It happens in playoff games. I guess guys feel a little braver because they know scrums like that aren’t going to result in anything. I wish I were a little quicker to the scrum, for sure. I wish I would have grabbed him first.”
Gallant memorably called it “the bulls— at the end of the game that they initiated,” and decried what he saw as a futile attempt by the Hurricanes to send a message ahead of Tuesday night’s Game 4.
“The game is over,” the coach said. “They’re not sending any message. We’ve got the guy that can handle all their guys if we want to.”
Did he mean Reaves, one of the NHL’s last remaining enforcers?
“I never said his name,” Gallant said with a laugh Monday.
Gallant coached Reaves with the Vegas Golden Knights before they both joined the Rangers. “He did his job perfectly [in Vegas]. It’s not about going out there and fighting. What’s he fought, twice this year?” asked Gallant. (It was three times.) “He’s just an insurance blanket for you there. Our guys know we have him there.”
In a brief few moments at the end of Game 3, the second-round series between the Rangers and Hurricanes became a series Reaves would love. Emotions boiled over. Penalties were earned. Trash was talked.
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Source : espn
