Rangers' Matt Rempe suspended eight games for hit against Stars' Miro Heiskanen

The NHL took Matt to the mat.

The league suspended Rangers forward Matt Rempe eight games without pay for boarding and elbowing Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Friday night, the announcement coming after the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday.

Rempe, 22, who met with the league’s department of player safety over Zoom on Sunday, will lose $80,000 in game checks. The department, in a video explanation, characterized Rempe as “a repeat offender.” He had been suspended for four games last season for a hit on Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler.

Also in the explanation, an unnamed department staffer said the hit “violated multiple NHL rules,” and “Rempe explodes upward into a hard check to the back of a defenseless Heiskanen while at the same time extending his elbow and forearm up and into the back of Heiskanen’s neck, driving Heiskanen dangerously into the boards and glass.”

Rempe, who was recalled from AHL Hartford on Wednesday following the trade of Kaapo Kakko to Seattle, drove Heiskanen face-first into the boards with 12:47 left in the third period Friday night.

The 6-9, 255-pound Rempe was assessed a game misconduct. The hit overshadowed what had been a strong game for Rempe, who had drawn second-period penalties from Mason Marchment (tripping), former Ranger Nils Lundkvist (hooking) and Lian Bichsel (slashing), and had five hits in 5:32.

“He had a big impact on the game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said Friday. “We’d like to stay away from the five-minute major but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game.”

Sunday counted as the first of the eight games Rempe will miss. Unless an appeal is levied before Monday’s road game against the Devils, Rempe will miss his second straight game.