The nastiness between the Rangers and Hurricanes picked up from right where it left off when the puck dropped in Game 3 in Raleigh.
As the two teams came together after a whistle with 8:36 left in the first period, Jimmy Vesey mixed it up with several Hurricanes players as he attempted to drop the gloves as three ‘Canes tried to fight him.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Vesey finally looked as though they would square off, with the Rangers forward getting a punch off before the Hurricanes player wrestled him to the ground and the officials jumped in.
As the refs sent Kotkaniemi and Vesey to the box, Barclay Goodrow started jawing at Martin Necas and had to be separated from him.
But Goodrow’s attention quickly turned to the Hurricanes bench as he continued to engage just about everyone before a linesman pushed him back toward the Rangers bench.
Things didn’t stop there.
Former Ranger Tony DeAngelo was seen by the TNT broadcast chirping the Rangers during the stoppage of play, taking aim at just about anyone that was near him as he stood on the ice.
A linesman was standing between him and the Rangers and the Blueshirt players seemed to just ignore the taunts.
Kotkaniemi, Dmitry Orlov, Vesey, and Goodrow were all assessed minor penalties for the fracas.
The Rangers trailed 1-0 at the time of the incident after Jake Guentzel scored at the 10:14 mark of the opening frame.
But the Rangers had the last laugh in the end, recording a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Blueshirts are now on the brink of making it back to the conference finals for the second time in three years.
Game 4 takes place at PNC Arena on Saturday night.