The New Jersey Devils are trying their best to navigate through the absence of Jack Hughes as he recovers from a thumb injury. They may still be near the top of the Metropolitan Division, but they dropped their last two games.
On Monday night, the Devils lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The talk hasn't been about the loss, but about the numerous fights that took place. In the second period, defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was celebrating his 1,000th game, got into a fight with Blue Jackets defenseman Dmitri Voronkov. Dillon was caught off balance during the scrum and punched in the face by Voronkov despite his sweater being pulled over his head. Dillon returned briefly before exiting for the remainder of the game.
During his postgame press conference, Keefe didn't hold back his frustration towards the Blue Jackets for the fights, particularly the one that injured Dillon. Keefe said that he believes Dillon didn't even know he was in a fight with Voronkov.
Sheldon Keefe rips Blue Jackets for fight that injured Brenden Dillon
"There is no more honorable player in this game than Brenden Dillon. He plays as hard and as honest a game as anybody in the league," said Keefe, h/t The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "He would never do something like that to another player. That I know, for certain. Yeah, I don't like it at all. I don't think Dilly knows he's in a fight. I think he's tackled from behind, and before he knows it, his helmet's off, his jersey's over his head and...we saw what happened from there. I don't like it at all."
When looking at the replay, Dillon is knocked off balance on the first punch thrown by Voronkov, then again once his jersey is pulled over his head, leaving him defenseless. Keefe also defended Dillon's character, saying he would never pull a move like that.
This instance wasn't the only thing that Keefe was miffed about. There was also the fight between Jonas Siegenthaler and Adam Fantilli. Siegenthaler had his jersey removed by Fantilli. Siegenthaler then received a game misconduct for not having his jersey fastened properly, while Fantilli received a five-minute major for fighting.
Keefe again claimed that Siegenthaler, like Dillon, wasn't prepared to fight before punches were thrown.
"(He) received seven punches before he removed his gloves. I don’t know how that works, whether that affects the fact that his jersey should be tied down because he wasn’t a willing fighter, until he just had to try to protect himself," said Keefe, h/t Devils team reporter Amanda Stein. "Regardless, the rule is you've got to tie it down; that's the rule. So from that end, it's unacceptable from Sieg's point of view, but to me, he doesn't go into that one to fight, and it wasn't until after receiving seven punches that he had to engage. That's a tough one."
As if there wasn't enough hatred between both teams on the ice, Keefe only intensified it off of the ice. This is the second game that the two teams faced off in head-to-head action. Back on Oct. 13, the Devils defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2. The two teams won't wait long until their next matchup, as that takes place on New Year's Eve.
One has to wonder if the bad blood will still be around for that upcoming game. For now, though, the Devils are going to try and stay afloat and maintain one of the top spots in the division. There isn't much room for error. After all, the Blue Jackets are just four points behind the Devils in the standings as of Dec. 2.