TARRYTOWN, New York — Matt Rempe’s reaction to the start of Saturday’s U.S.-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off game shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“That was the coolest thing,” the bruising forward said of the three fights in the first nine seconds of game action. “I wanted to run through a wall.”

Rempe, who is from Calgary, watched from veteran teammate Jonathan Quick’s house, where he’s been living while in the NHL this year. Quick himself wasn’t home that night, but Rempe had company in the goalie’s 14-year-old daughter, Madison. He said he was jumping around during the series of fights.

Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk — a player Rempe liked growing up a Flames fan — fought Brandon Hagel at the opening faceoff, then his brother, Brady Tkachuk, dropped the gloves with Sam Bennett. Rangers forward J.T. Miller concluded the fighting nine seconds into the game when he took on Canada’s Colton Parayko.

Unlike Madison, an American, Rempe pulled for his native Canada throughout the game. That didn’t stop his excitement watching his American teammate have a big moment. Asked specifically about Miller’s fight, Rempe one-upped his previous answer about wanting to run through a wall.

“I wanted to drill my head against a wall,” he said. “It was awesome.”

The Americans and Canadians will meet again for Thursday’s gold medal game in Boston. The Rangers have four players on the U.S. team — Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox — but none with Team Canada. That puts Rempe and other Canadian Rangers players in an interesting position. Do they cheer for their home country in Thursday’s final, or do they root for their NHL teammates?

“I’m watching all the fellas, hope they do good,” Rempe said. “But I want Canada to win. I want Canada to win big time. One hundred percent.”

“I don’t have a rooting interest at all, to be honest,” added Reilly Smith, who said his availability to watch will depend on how early he gets his kids to bed. “I think it’s great that those guys are doing this. It does help the game of hockey and obviously they’re losing their break because of it. … Hats off to those guys for doing it.”

Sam Carrick, who is from outside Toronto, knows players on both teams. During the first matchup, which took place in Montreal, he found himself cheering for specific players, not one country in particular.

“Being in Canada, I know how much it meant to Canadians,” he said. “It was huge and just makes this next game even bigger.”

He added that his daughters are American, so he feels like Thursday’s championship game is a win-win for him.

Carrick has found the tournament to be better and more intense than he expected. Like Rempe, he loved the early game fight from Miller, whom the Rangers acquired from Vancouver at the end of January.

“That’s why we brought him here, I believe,” he said. “We love that stuff, and that’s a guy you want on your team.”

“You could feel the build up before, but that was the last thing I was expecting, and it was awesome,” Braden Schneider added of the fights. “That’s exactly what you want to see and everyone going to battle like that. It was so fun to watch.”

Schneider, who is from Saskatchewan, felt conflicted watching the game but said, “I just have to cheer for my country.”

His ideal outcome for Thursday: All of his Rangers teammates get on the scoresheet, but Canada comes away with the gold medal.

(Photo of J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko’s fight: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)