New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy unleashed a profane tirade at Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen on Tuesday night as Rantanen was ejected for injuring Islanders defenseman Alex Romanov.
With less than a minute to go in regulation, Rantanen skated through a check by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and shoved Romanov in the back. The Islanders defenseman crashed violently into the end boards. He was eventually helped from the ice. The Islanders later reported that Romanov didn’t need to leave the arena for the hospital.
Rantanen was given a 5-minute major for boarding, which carries an automatic game misconduct. He’s the leading scorer for the Stars with 27 points in 20 games. New York hung on for a 3-2 road win. As Rantanen was leaving the game, ice-level mics picked up Roy yelling at him. The coach appeared to say “you’re not going to f—ing finish that game,” which might have been a reference to the rematch involving the teams in New York later this season.
Roy said after the game that Rantanen’s hit was “disrespectful” to his team.
“I hope he’s going to be OK. At this moment, I don’t know exactly what it is. But all I’m going to say is [that] when you see the number, you have to lay off. Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy,” Roy said. “I was in Colorado when [Rantanen] was drafted there. It’s not his style. But at the same time, that should not be part of our game.”
All dangerous hits are reviewed by the NHL Department of Player Safety for possible supplemental discipline.
Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said he had “a different take” on the Rantanen hit.
“If you watch the play, I think Mayfield holds up Rants and they actually clip skates. So Rants is going off-balance going in there, too. If you played the game and you’re off-balance, you usually put your hands out,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve seen Rants play enough in the last 10 years. It’s just one of those hockey plays that happened. I’m hoping Romanov is OK. It’s a dangerous play for everybody.”
The Rantanen ejection was part of an epic final minute of the game between the Islanders and Stars. It appeared that Dallas tied the score with 0.1 seconds left on a goal by Wyatt Johnston. But the NHL Situation Room initiated a goaltender interference review — by rule, the NHL can review any scenario that would otherwise be subject to a coach’s challenge in the final minute of regulation or at any point in overtime.
The NHL ruled that Dallas’ Jason Robertson impaired the ability of David Rittich to play his position in the crease before Johnston’s goal.
“I kind of thought Robo got pushed in, but nothing we can do about it. It was Toronto’s call,” said Stars captain Jamie Benn, playing his first game of the season due to injury. Gulutzan said he thought the Stars had a chance to win the review because the call on the ice was a goal.
“Any time there’s a player in the blue, you’re going to argue if he was pushed in or if he went in on his own. Obviously, you know where we stand on it,” he said.
