Chris Kreider felt Matthew Tkachuk was getting a little too mouthy.
The Rangers veteran, at the end of an early third-period jaw session with the Panthers’ agitator during Tuesday’s 3-2 OT loss in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, tossed Tkachuk’s mouthguard into the stands at Amerant Bank Arena.
Kreider and Tkachuk needed to be separated by a linesman just 48 seconds in the third period, with the Rangers star reaching up at Tkachuk’s mouth, getting a handful of mouthguard and presumably sending a fan home with a one-of-a-kind, if not spit-laden, prize.
After the loss, Kreider didn’t want to get into the specific moment.
“I don’t remember that,” he said, according to The Athletic.
Luckily, officials didn’t seem to notice it either, as a referee could have hit Kreider with a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct under Rule 75.4 (iii), for “any player who deliberately throws any equipment out of the playing area. At the discretion of the Referee, a game misconduct may be imposed.”
It was the latest in the ever-escalating tensions between the two sides as their Eastern Conference Final series continues.
The first three games of the round have been filled with big hits and plenty of pushing and shoving as both sides looked to get under the other’s skin.
Despite the Game 4 outcome, the series returns to the Garden for Game 5, home of hockey’s third-most aggressive fanbase, according to a Casino.org study.
Rangers fans have been out in numbers in NYC — and Carolina and Florida — this postseason.
