Mass brawl breaks out TWO seconds into Rangers-Devils game at MSG as tempers flare straight after the puck drop... with eight players ejected following wild 5v5 scrap at Madison Square Garden

A mass brawl between New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils players broke out just two seconds into their game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. 

Straight after the puck drop in New York, boisterous Rangers rookie Matt Rempe and Devils defenseman Kurtis MacDermid dropped their gloves and began exchanging fists.

All 10 players eventually got involved in the scrap, but the main event was between Rempe and MacDermid - who have history from the previous time the Devils visited the Rangers on March 11.

That night, Kempe refused MacDermid's offer to fight early in the game. Later in the contest, Rempe knocked Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler out of the game with a high elbow and was subsequently suspended for four games.

Rempe and MacDermid fought the longest on Wednesday as their tussle continued at center ice after the other four fights had ended. Four players from each team received game misconducts 2 seconds into the game.

Along with Rempe, New York defensemen Jacob Trouba and K'Andre Miller and forward Barclay Goodrow were ejected from the game. New Jersey defensemen Kevin Bahl and John Marino, and forwards Chris Tierney and MacDermid also received early exits.

Miller fought Marino, Trouba battled Tierney, Goodrow went against Bahl and Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey fought New Jersey's Curtis Lazar. Vesey and Lazar remained in the game since they fought first and didn't receive additional punishment.

All 10 players received five-minute fighting penalties. Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette and Devils interim coach Travis Green also became embroiled in a spat on the sidelines following the melee.

New York's Will Cuylle then fought New Jersey's Dawson Mercer at the 4:27 mark of the first period after Cuylle hit the Devils' Brendan Smith into the boards.

Rempe has already become notorious for brawling with opponents just 10 games into his NHL career.

The 21-year-old has now been ejected from all three of his meetings with the Devils following his elbow on Siegenthaler and savage hit on Nathan Bastian during his second game for the Rangers.

In his three outings against them, he finished with 47 penalty minutes, two fights and three game misconducts in 5:03 of ice time.

New Jersey head coach Travis Green said about Rempe's elbow last month: 'Everyone who knows the game at all knows that that player is in a vulnerable spot and there's a player that’s looking to, call it predatorial or whatever you want to call it, it’s definitely not the first time that it’s happened.

'I think there's some intent there to injure the player.'