A new Metropolitan Division rivalry could be emerging.
Dillon, who was playing in his 1,000th game, was injured in the fight and didn’t take a shift in the third period.
After the game, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe questioned Voronkov, who pulled Dillon out of a net-front scrum and started landing punches before his defenceman even had his gloves off.
“All I know is there is no more honourable player in this league than Brenden Dillon and (he) plays as hard and honest game than anybody in the league. He would never do something like that to another player, that I know for certain. I don’t like it at all,” Keefe said.
“I don’t think (Dillon) knows he’s in a fight, I think he’s tackled from behind, and before he knows it, his helmet is off, his jersey is over his head, and you saw what happened from there.”
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason responded to Keefe on Wednesday.
“We saw (Keefe’s) comments,” Evason said. “They have no bearing on our room.”
Three minutes later, Adam Fantilli and Jonas Siegenthaler joined in on the extracurriculars with their own spirited tilt, for which Siegenthaler received a 10-minute game misconduct for a jersey infraction in addition to the five-minute fighting major doled out to both himself and Fantilli.
The two teams combined for 74 penalty minutes on the night, including 64 in the second period alone.
Columbus won the game, 5-3.
The two teams next meet Dec. 31 in Ohio.
–with files from The Associated Press