OTTAWA — The Devils coach did what the Rangers coach told him to do. Pete DeBoer shut up.
NHL VP Colin Campbell told The Post he intends to have something to say at the next GMs meeting about Monday night’s three-ring circus at Madison Square Garden. Rules against such obvious fights may be created, as there were against fights during warm-ups and at the end of games.
“We’ve moved on. I said what I had to say [Monday] night. I stand by what I said and we’re moving on to play Ottawa,” DeBoer said last night when asked about John Tortorella’s “shut up” comments yesterday.
Campbell found himself hamstrung from fining or punishing either coach for the triple bouts at the start of the Rangers’ 4-2 victory. The spectacle did not break NHL rules, but violated the spirit of what is right, Campbell said. The incident will be addressed at an upcoming GMs meeting, with Campbell leading the discussion.
There were no “out to the woodshed” phone calls from Campbell to either coach, nor had they been warned or advised that such shenanigans would be reprimanded. The reason is that no rule was violated, aside from fives for fighting and a misconduct for Bryce Salvador that could have been an ejection.
After those fights, three seconds into play, Tortorella was yelling at DeBoer for making a starting lineup of fighters, instigating the immediate unseemly behavior.
DeBoer said Tortorella had either forgotten using that same visiting tactic of starting his fighters Dec. 20 in Newark, or worse.
“In John [Tortorella]’s world, you can come into our building and start your tough guys, but we can’t do the same in here. Either he has short-term memory loss or he’s a hypocrite. It’s one or the other,” DeBoer charged Monday.
Tortorella withheld comment Monday night, but let loose yesterday.
“And really, basically, just shut up. And I need to also,” he said at Rangers practice.
DeBoer would not bite when reminded that by shutting up, he’d let Tortorella have the last word. Nor would he answer whether these teams would resume such opening fracases if they meet in the playoffs, or next season.