The Dallas Stars’ and New York Islanders’ players and coaches responded to a controversial hit by Stars forward Mikko Rantanen in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss at American Airlines Center.
With 27.3 seconds left in the game, Rantanen collided with Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov, pushing him face first into the boards. Romanov was down on the ice for minutes while a fight broke out and needed to be helped down the tunnel.
Rantanen was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The league could choose to take further action and suspend Rantanen for the first time of his career Wednesday.
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The Islanders’ coaches and players weren’t happy with the play Tuesday night.
“All I’m gonna say is when you see the number, you have to lay off,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy.
“I was in Colorado when [Rantanen] was drafted there. That’s not his style. At the same time, that should not be a part of our game.”
Roy was also heard on the broadcast yelling an expletive at Rantanen as he left down the tunnel.
The Stars, however, had a different view of the play and defended Rantanen.
“If you watch the play, I think it’s [Scott] Mayfield, the defenseman, actually holds up Rantanen, and they actually clip skates, so Rants is off balance going in there, too,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve seen Rants play enough over the last 10 years that it’s just one of those hockey plays that happens. I hope Romanov is OK. Rants clips skates, being held up, so it’s a dangerous play for everybody.”
Jason Robertson added: “Obviously, our first thought is the health of the player. Of course, that’s the No. 1 priority. You never want to see that happen. We understand it. It was an incident. They’re sticking up for their guy. We have to respect that. You have to respect that. It’s just unfortunate it happened.”
Newsday’s Andrew Gross reported from Dallas that Romanov was still in the arena at the time the game ended and did not have to be transported to another facility for examination.
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