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DALLAS — The Islanders were visibly disturbed following an intense collision between Mikko Rantanen and Alexander Romanov that seemed to result in a significant injury for the defenseman. This incident occurred with just 27.3 seconds left in their 3-2 victory over the Stars on Tuesday night. Patrick Roy criticized the Finnish player, labeling the hit as “disrespectful to our guys.”
Rantanen, charging towards the end boards alongside Romanov, forcefully shoved the Islander from behind. Romanov, with his back turned and numbers visible, was driven into the glass, his head appearing to make contact first. He crumpled to the ice and required assistance to leave the rink.
An Islanders representative later confirmed that Romanov did not need to be transported for further medical care, though they provided no additional details on his condition.
The officials handed Rantanen a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a 10-minute game misconduct.
As Rantanen made his way off the ice, he exchanged heated words with Roy.
“I hope he’s gonna be OK at this moment,” Roy said. “I don’t know exactly what it is. All I’m gonna say is, when you see the number, you have to lay off. Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy.
“And I’m proud [of] the way that our guys handled it afterwards. No one was happy to see someone get hurt like this. To me, it’s disrespectful to our guys.”
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan spoke in defense of Rantanen, saying his skates were clipped by Scott Mayfield, causing him to come into Romanov off-balance.
“I’ve seen Rants play enough over the last 10 years that it’s just one of those hockey plays that happens,” Gulutzan said. “I hope Romanov is OK.”
Roy, who was coaching the Avalanche when Rantanen was drafted there, did say that such a play was unlike him.
“That’s not his style. At the same time, that should not be a part of our game,” Roy said. “That should not be a part of our game.”
Despite a gutty win that snapped a five-game Stars winning streak and brought the Islanders to 5-1-0 through six games of this road trip, the mood in the dressing room had a somber tone.
“You put yourself in my shoes. Whenever your friend gets hurt on the ice, it’s way more important than hockey me,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “And obviously, we get two points, we’re happy about that. Everyone, I think, our first concern was Rommy.”
Romanov missed five games earlier this season with an upper-body injury, during which the Islanders called up Marshall Warren to fill in. It would not be surprising if Warren joined the team again for Thursday’s game in Detroit.
David Rittich started in net, despite Ilya Sorokin being the hot hand, and stopped 22 of 24 shots. Roy said the Islanders are prioritizing keeping both goalies fresh over riding Sorokin.
Simon Holmstrom was out with illness, and Maxim Tsyplakov drew into the lineup in his place.
