It was, to some extent. There is bad blood between the teams, because of some cheap shots taken in previous games, so that's the background.
Rangers send out their goon for the first shift, so the opposing coach, for various reasons, knows he must respond.
think of high school, where the talk all day has been about the two opposing bullies, and their friends, meeting after school....
....and they tell us Pro-Wrestling is fake...................
Almost. See my prior comment. In hockey, the visiting team puts their players on the ice first for almost every faceoff (including the opening faceoff). The coach of the home team reacts accordingly.
In a normal game, the visiting team might put their top line on the ice to start the game -- and the home coach puts his best defensive line out against them.