Getty Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers
When there is a Battle of New York happening in Manhattan or Long Island, the stakes are always high. On Tuesday, April 9, it was the violence that reached new heights at least in the eyes of New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette.
Laviolette called out the New York Islanders for two of their hits on Rangers’ forwards Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck happening on the team’s 4-2 loss at UBS Arena on Tuesday night.
Zibanejad runs into Pelech’s elbow, ouch.
“[Zibanejad] came back at the end from that vicious hit. He came back. That vicious shoulder, elbow to the head,” Laviolette told reporters after the game on April 9. “Watch it.”
It took Laviolette 10 full seconds to gather himself after getting asked about his player’s status and how he was after that “vicious” hit.
On top of that, Laviolette answered “I do” to a reporter asking him if he thought the hit was “intentional and not a collision.”
With 11:09 left in the third period, Zibanejad was skating to the bench but ran into the shoulder of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech at center ice.
Zibanejad was hit square in the head and fell to the ice. He was attended by Rangers medical staff before leaving the game and getting into the team’s dressing room. Zibanejad didn’t return to the ice but he did return to the bench, per Laviolette.
Rangers Players Hit “Viciously” by Islanders Opponents
After Zibanejad suffered the hit by Pelech with around 11 minutes left in the final frame, it was Rangers’ Trocheck who got hit into the boards by Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson approaching the final buzzer.
Dobson launched his body in full force toward a defenseless Trocheck, sending him into the end boards. Following that action, which didn’t result in a call by the referees, the Islanders scored their fourth, empty-net goal.
“Vicious, from behind,” Laviolette said about Dobson’s hit on Trocheck. “It was hard out there tonight having to get through all of that.
“It was hard, but our guys kept fighting and battling until the end.”
Trocheck gets crushed from behind with no call. Trocheck is pissed!! and has ever right to be. #NYR
Trocheck was “incensed” after getting cross-checked into the boards and argued the no-boarding call face-to-face with the main referee on Tuesday’s game following the empty-net goal by the Isles. After a brief exchange with five seconds left to play, Trocheck was ejected from the game.
Rangers Need 2 Victories to Win the Metropolitan Division
Even though the Islanders ended up winning the game and although they went up 3-0 in the first period, Laviolette thought his team was the one deserving the victory on Tuesday.
“I think we owned the game,” Laviolette told reporters after the game, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com. “The puck was on our stick the entire second and third period.”
Power play goal for New York!
Scored by Adam Fox with 04:59 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck.
New York: 3
New York: 2
The loss against the Islanders means the Rangers will have to wait to finish atop the Metropolitan Division. They need either two more wins or one win and a loss by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers have three games left in their schedule.
By beating the Boston Bruins on April 9, the Hurricanes did New York a solid as the Rangers kept their 3-point distance atop the Eastern Conference standings intact. If they win the conference, the Rangers will enjoy home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference side of the playoffs bracket.