It reminds us how fragile the quest for the Stanley Cup can become. This reminds us that you can’t bubble wrap the Rangers before the playoffs begin. It reminds us that calamity lurks around every corner, whether it’s a slapshot that turns into friendly fire or a mid-ice collision creating collateral damage.
Rangers appeared to have avoided disaster on the island on Tuesday night, with Mika Zibanejad seemingly escaping a concussion after being injured. splash! face first to the ground on the ice, where he remained in a prone position for a frightening minute after a mid-ice collision with Adam Pelech at 8:51 of the third period, which was either accidental or disguised to look like this.
Head coach Peter Laviolette, enraged and perhaps shaken when he called his postgame press briefing, left no doubt that he believed Pelech’s hit on Zibanejad as number 93 crossed the ice to the bench for a change was intentional. That would have been a polite term for him.
“He came back at the end — from that vicious hit, yes,” Laviolette said of Zibanejad, who watched the final shift of that 4-2 loss from the bench. “He came back from that vicious shoulder (and/or) elbow to the head.
“Look at this. Vicious – from behind.
Asked if he thought Pelech intentionally hit Zibanejad in the head as the defenseman stood at center ice, looking away from the play, the Blueshirts coach responded: “Yes.”
Look, the consequences of an injury to a Ranger at this stage of the match are obvious and more important than a point or two in the standings. By dropping this one, the Blueshirts’ lead over Carolina was reduced to three points with the “Canes” victory in Boston, but the Rangers still maintained their three-point lead over the Bruins.
So it wasn’t a particularly damaging night in the standings for a Blueshirts team that is 24-6-1 since the game before the All-Star break. But it could have broken them. Not only would the consequences of a serious injury to Zibanejad be enormous, with 10 seconds left, Noah Dobson made no pretense of anything other than pushing Vincent Trocheck through the back wall from behind as the Blueshirts made pressure for the equalizer after pulling Igor Shesterkin. . It was ugly.
Referee Kelly Sutherland and his sidekick Peter MacDougall have resigned. They called nothing as the Islanders swept the other way for an empty net that solidified their playoff position. This was another reason why Laviolette was angry.
“Vicious,” he said. “From behind. Both.”
And you know what? Tragedy struck in front of every generational Rangers fan when Zibanejad’s first-period slap shot hit Chris Kreider in the ankle at 5:15, sending the winger into the room for a handful of shifts. On a night when Zibanejad apparently didn’t have a concussion, he wasn’t 1972 Dale Rolfe to Jean Ratelle either.
The Rangers were caught with their pants down by a desperate opponent for the first 20 minutes, falling behind 3-0 before building their game and dominating the final two periods. They fought hard and went to the dirty areas even though their talent was not at its peak.
The other team also played hard, as evidenced by Matt Barzal throwing himself in front of Artemi Panarin early in the third period to protect a one-goal lead.
Zibanejad followed one of his most assertive games Sunday against Montreal with a lively first period, mixing it up with Brock Nelson fighting for position, while also participating in the power play that scored twice in the second period. If the power play represents the club’s unique offensive weapon, a score of 6 out of 12 in the last four games bodes well for this group which brings together the club’s most productive players.
Laviolette sat Matt Rempe and built a control line with Barclay Goodrow, Jonny Brodzinski and Jimmy Vesey to take on the Barzal-Bo Horvat-Casey Cizikas unit. The match line didn’t add up in this one. The makeup of the fourth line is something Laviolette will need to think about heading into the playoffs.
Much of this season has been about the Rangers’ culture of unity. It’s a cheesy “all for one,” “one for all” philosophy that was preached from day one by Laviolette and embraced by the player personnel.
“It was tough tonight having to overcome all that,” the coach said. “But our guys kept fighting and fighting until the end.”
It was prideful for a night when the Rangers avoided calamity.
New York Post
