Former NHLer Paul Bissonnette had some harsh words for any Rangers fan who thought Adam Pelech’s hit Tuesday night on Mika Zibanejad was “vicious.”
In fact, the analyst and Spittin’ Chiclets podcast host thinks that maybe fans were in an altered state to believe the Broadway Blues were hard-done-by in their loss to the New York Islanders.
“Rangers fans crying about that hit at the end of the game come on, (Jacob) Trouba does that to guys every shift, are you guys smoking rocks give it a rest, just take the loss.
“Win with grace, lose with grace.”
There were two questionable hits which Bissonnette could have been referring to, but the safe money would be on Pelech’s collision with Zibanejad.
During the third period, Zibanejad was skating in the middle of the ice when he ran into Isles defenceman Pelech, who didn’t appear to see his opponent coming.
Zibanejad hit the ice, losing his stick, while Pelech managed to stay upright while knocked off balance.
The Rangers star wasn’t injured on the play, but coach Peter Laviolette wasn’t happy about it, which started a war of words with opposing bench boss Patrick Roy.
“(Zibanejad) came back at the end from that vicious hit, yeah, he came back,” Laviolette said. “That vicious shoulder elbow to the head. Watch it.”
Roy, however, felt much differently, pointing out that his player wasn’t even the one who initiated contact.
“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 the opposite, I think, what happened.”
Roy wasn’t sure why it was even an issue.
“I don’t know why we’re talking about this, quite honestly,” he said. “I’m a little surprised because it was clear in my mind that it was accidental. We could talk about it for an hour if you want to, but I think we’re wasting our time. It was accidental. That’s it, that’s all, next question.”
The second questionable hit came later in third period when Islanders defenceman Noah Dobson hit Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck from behind, but did not receive a penalty and led to the Isles scoring an empty-netter to cap a 4-2 victory.
The two Empire State rivals are set to meet again on Saturday afternoon.