Rangers coach Peter Laviolette doesn't mince words on 'vicious' hit to Mika Zibanejad
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was as angry — more angry — than he has been in this entire season, his first as coach of the Blueshirts.
Everyone saw his team’s No. 1 center, Mika Zibanejad, lying on the ice, face down at the red line, near the Rangers’ bench, midway through the third period of the Rangers’ 4-2 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Zibanejad had collided with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech at the red line as Zibanejad was trying to skate off to the bench on a line change.
Most of the people in the building thought the collision between Zibanejad and Pelech was accidental. Laviolette did not.
“He came back at the end,’’ Laviolette said, after a long pause, when asked about Zibanejad’s condition. “From that vicious hit. Yeah, he came back. That vicious shoulder/elbow to the head. Watch it.’’
Asked to clarify if he thought Pelech had hit Zibanejad deliberately, the coach said, “I do. I do.’’
And then, asked about a hit later in the game by Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson on Vincent Trocheck, the Rangers’ No. 2 center, Laviolette made it clear he thought that one was deliberate, too.
“Vicious,’’ he said. “From behind. Both.’’
For the record, the officials didn’t call either Pelech or Dobson for a penalty, and in the locker room afterward, the Rangers’ players seemed more concerned about Zibanejad’s health than angry at any kind of dirty play by Pelech or Dobson.
“You never want to see a guy go down like that,’’ Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey said when asked about Zibanejad. “I didn’t want to watch the replay, but the way he was moving on the ice — or not moving, depending on how you want to put it — was kind of scary. He’s a big part of our team, a big part of our locker room, and it sucks to see someone like that.’’
When Laviolette’s comments were relayed to Islanders coach Patrick Roy, he seemed surprised, and denied Pelech hit Zibanejad on purpose.
“No, it was accidental,’’ Roy said. ”The referee was in a really good position to see it. He saw it. I was more afraid that Pelly might get hurt on that one. [Zibanejad’s] the one that hit Pelly . . . It was totally accidental, there’s no doubt in my mind. I think Kelly [Sutherland, the referee] was in a really good position to see everything, and he made it clear right away that it was accidental.
“But sometimes frustration makes you say things.”
Maybe, but this kind of thing is exactly what one should expect from a rivalry as intense as Rangers-Islanders. And it certainly sets up a tense atmosphere for the rematch between these teams Saturday at Madison Square Garden. For one thing, it’s a good bet that Rangers rookie tough guy Matt Rempe, a healthy scratch in this game, will be dressed for that one. And if he is, the odds are probably good that the Garden fans will get to see a fight between the 6-8 Rempe and whoever happens to be closest to him on his first shift.
But the Rangers have bigger problems than getting some kind of retribution for what they may have perceived as a dirty play on the part of Pelech.
If Zibanejad is hurt, and forced to miss significant time, the Rangers will be without their No. 1 center, the guy who drives offense, and is expected to score — while also matching up against other teams’ top-line players — and who is an integral part of both their power play and their penalty kill. They don’t have anyone on the roster — or in the organization — who can do all he does for them.
They had an earlier injury scare in the game, when Zibanejad’s blistering one-timer hit Chris Kreider while Kreider was trying to screen Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov during the first period. Kreider went to the locker room for a while, but returned before the period was over, and ended up scoring a power-play goal in the second period.
Those two incidents illustrate what is the most worrisome thing for the Rangers as they finish out the regular season. They have three regular- season games remaining, and each one represents a risk where one of their key players could be injured during the game.
“I think it’s in the back of everyone’s mind,’’ Vesey said. “The way things have unfolded, we’re still playing for something here, and the teams we’ve been facing are in the same boat. They’re playing for a lot . . . Sometimes guys get rested [but] just the way it plays out, we’re still playing for a lot.”
The Rangers (53-22-4, 110 points) are one point ahead of Dallas in the battle for first place overall, and three points ahead of Carolina in the battle for the Metropolitan Division title. But should they consider sitting out one or two of their star players, just to keep them safe?
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.