Patrick Roy accused Rangers coach Peter Laviolette of Adam Pelech intentionally elbowing Mika Zibanejad when the two collided in the third period of the Islanders’ 4-2 win on Tuesday. I couldn’t stand the view.
“It was a coincidence,” Roy said. “The referee was in a very good position to see it. He saw it. I was more scared that Perry would get hurt. [Zibanejad’s] What attacked Perry. I think what happened was the opposite. ”
Zibanejad collided with Perek’s elbow and went down, but neither player appeared ready for the collision as the play was elsewhere.
The Rangers star took a while to get off the ice, spending almost the entire remainder of the third period in the locker room and returning to the bench at the end of the game.
Laviolette later slammed the hit, calling it “malicious” and “intentional.”
“Sometimes I get irritated and say unnecessary things,” Roy said.
“To be honest, I don’t know why I’m talking about this. I was a little surprised because in my head I thought it was a coincidence. If you want, we can talk for an hour, but it’s a waste of time.” I think so. It was a coincidence. That’s it, that’s it, next question.”
That wasn’t the only moment of excitement between the rivals in the third period. After Anders Lee scored an empty-net goal to decide the game, Alexis Lafreniere was ruled for foul play, and Vincent Trocheck was also ruled for foul play on Noah Dobson, who got on Trocheck seconds before Lee’s goal. I yelled and got angry at Miss Call.
Neither Pelech nor Dobson spoke to reporters after the game, but Roy unsurprisingly once again defended his players when asked about the incident.
“I think the puck went up in the air with 15 seconds left in the game. I think he should have expected us to go after this incident,” Roy said. “And I think Noah fired him and tried to get rid of him.” [it] Sideways. He has just finished checking on him.
“Trocek had a chance as well — he was the one who gave us the puck. And then he scored on that play.”
Simon Holmstrom swapped lineups with Pierre Engvall, playing on the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, while Engvall played on the third line with J.G. Pageau and Anders Lee.
