It happened. As expected, a line brawl took place during the opening faceoff between the Rangers and Devils before a pumped up crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The final regular season meeting didn’t disappoint. With the Devils seeking retribution due to Rangers rookie Matt Rempe knocking out defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler with an elbow that kept him out for three weeks with a concussion, they were ready to rumble on Broadway.

Kurtis MacDermid returned from a lower-body injury just in time to get his fight with Rempe. At the drop of the puck, all 10 skaters squared off. Barclay Goodrow fought Kevin Bahl. Jimmy Vesey took on Curtis Lazar. K’Andre Miller dropped the gloves with John Marino. Jacob Trouba fought Chris Tierney. Rempe and MacDermid danced at center ice.

While it was a spectacle to watch, all eyes were glued to Rempe and MacDermid. They exchanged heavy blows for nearly five minutes, battling to a draw. When it was over, both were ejected along with Miller, Trouba, Goodrow, Marino, Tierney, and Bahl.

Eerily reminiscent of the line brawl that took place at MSG between the same two teams back on Mar. 19, 2012, this was another chapter in the unique Hudson rivalry. Ironically, Mike Rupp was one of the spectators who decided to go to tonight’s game. Rupp was one of the participants in the first line brawl 12 years ago between the Rangers and Devils. It was fitting that he was in the audience.

The fighting wasn’t done, either. Following a boarding minor penalty by Will Cuylle on Brendan Smith, Devils forward Dawson Mercer answered the bell. He challenged Cuylle. The two battled near the back boards, with each going off for fighting. Cuylle received two minutes for boarding while Mercer got two for instigating and an additional 10 for a misconduct.

By the conclusion of the first period, the teams totaled a combined 162 penalty minutes for a league record. Six fighting majors and eight game misconducts helped them reach that high number.

When there was actual hockey played during the period, the Rangers scored twice. Alexis Lafreniere set up Artemi Panarin for his 45th goal. Lafreniere later finished off his 26th on a rebound in front from Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic.

The Rangers led 2-0 after one period on Wednesday night.