The New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils served up one of the more surprising scraps of the NHL season on Saturday night, as Islanders phenom Matthew Schaefer and Devils defenseman Luke Hughes got into it at UBS Arena.
The unexpected throwdown came in the second period, with the Islanders leading 4-2. Schaefer had taken Hughes down earlier in the game, and tempers eventually boiled over between two of the league’s brightest young blueliners. SportsCenter summed up the reaction perfectly on X, calling it “not the matchup we expected to see.”
MATTHEW SCHAEFER VS. LUKE HUGHES
Not the matchup we expected to see pic.