Rangers, Lightning combine for 70 penalty minutes in chaotic, fight-filled game

The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning combined for a game full of violent hits, nasty fights and perhaps some costly injuries on Wednesday. The Rangers ended up winning 6-3, and approach the playoffs on a violent streak. However, the biggest winners may end up being anyone who escaped uninjured or only slightly banged up.

Rangers’ Trouba, Lightning’s Cirelli among those possibly injured

Hard-hitting Rangers captain Jacob Trouba often leaves other players on the injury list (whether those hits end up being legal or not). This time, it was Trouba who left Wednesday's game after falling in an awkward way where he couldn’t really brace himself following a Corey Perry hit:

At the moment, the Rangers consider Trouba day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The good news is the defenseman is travelling with the team.

Tampa’s excellent two-way forward Anthony Cirelli may have also gotten dinged up in this one. He most likely got hurt during a wild fracas midway through the second frame, triggered in part by Alex Killorn taking a late swipe at Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin. As you can see, plenty of players were involved, including an angry Ryan Lindgren.

Cirelli did not return to the ice for the entire third period.

Multiple fights between Rangers and Lightning

However you feel about Perry’s hit on Trouba, he ended up dropping the gloves with Vincent Trocheck — not necessarily a known pugilist — late in the second period.

Things escalated a few minutes later after what looked like a clean hit by Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider. After Schneider demolished Nick Paul, Tampa Bay forward Ross Colton immediately dropped the gloves.

All of that chaos made a more typical, early heavyweight bout between Ben Harpur and Patrick Maroon feel a bit tepid.

Overall, the Rangers and Lightning combined for a whopping 70 penalty minutes in New York’s win. This slugfest followed a Rangers victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday that ended up combative in its own right, with someone as unlikely as Jimmy Vesey even getting into a fight.

If heavy hockey ends up being important despite a surge in scoring, then it seems like both the Rangers and Lightning are knuckling up. Granted, if all of that violence causes these teams to lose someone like Cirelli or Trouba, maybe it won’t be so easy to justify.