The Rangers-Hurricanes Game 2 battle at the Garden keeps getting more chippy by the minute.
A period after Igor Shesterkin was taken out by Andrei Svechnikov as the Rangers goalie played the puck behind the net — which led the Blueshirts to bum-rush the Hurricanes winger in defense of their goalie — the bad blood continued to emerge.
In the second period, Carolina defenseman Tony De’Angelo, a once controversial Rangers blueliner, was caught on camera exchanging non-pleasantries with K’Andre Miller.
“I’ll fight you anytime,” DeAngelo told his former teammate during a line change at the bench.
Miller’s reply to DeAngelo was inaudible.
But the early part of the Hurricanes veteran defenseman’s next verbal shot at Miller wasn’t.
“Oh, yeah you’re a f–king a …,” DeAngelo started to say before the audio was cut off.
It may not be the first vitriolic exchange between the two, with rumors emerging during the 2020-21 season that DeAngelo had withheld the puck from Miller’s first goal amid the pair’s strained relationship.
The Rangers called the speculation “100 precent false,” and “sad,” though DeAngelo’s fraught time with the franchise came to an end shortly thereafter.
“As far as the first-goal puck being an issue, K’Andre never even knew it to be an issue,” Miller’s agent, Ian Pulver, told The Post’s Larry Brooks. “It was always his understanding that the puck was with the training staff. It’s not right that he has become part of this story.”
DeAngelo now will be less pleased as Vincent Trocheck scored with the man-advantage in double overtime to lead the Rangers to a 4-3 victory in Game 2 and a 2-0 series lead.
Needless to say, it’s likely not going to be the last heated moment between these two rivals.