Last night's game against the New York Islanders was the most controversial game of the Dallas Stars season so far. It included ejections and a goal scored with .1 left on the clock that was eventually overturned, resulting in a 3-2 loss for the Stars.
In the last 30 seconds of the game, the Stars were down by one and with Jake Oettinger on the bench, the race was on. Mikko Rantanen was coming in hot for the puck that was in front of Alexander Romanov while being trailed by Scott Mayfield. In an unfortunate turn of events, Rantanen and Mayfield make contact, throwing him off balance into Romanov, who takes a massive fall into the boards.
IslandersLive (@IslandersLive53) on X
Mikko Rantanen delivered a scary hit on Romy, thankfully he was able to skate off the ice without needing a stretcher. Hopefully, Alexander Romanov is okay. 🙏 #Isles
#Islanders #NHL #Hockey #MikkoRantanen #AlexanderRomanov #IslandersLive
A massive pile ensues with Rantanen on the bottom and Romanov writhing in pain near him. Thankfully, after some time, Romanov was able to gingerly skate off on with some help. Rantanen was given a major for checking from behind, that was reviewed and upheld, as well as a 10-minute misconduct. This caused massive chaos, as the Islanders bench, rightfully so, was very upset. Islanders head coach, Patrick Roy, can be heard on the Victory+ feed telling Rantanen, "you're not going to finish that game," possibly in reference to the next time these two teams meet.
Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) on X
"You're not gonna f**king finish that game!" 😳
Patrick Roy was GIVING IT to Mikko Rantanen after his boarding major 🤬
Incredibly, even after all the chaos, the Stars still had 28 seconds on the board to tie it up but now were down a man. They were able to get the puck down the ice, pull Oettinger and score a goal with .1 second left, but ultimately, the goal would be called back due to goaltender interference and the Islanders were able to hang on for the full two points without overtime.
After the game, when asked about the hit, Glen Gulutzan stated, "If you watch the play, I think Mayfield holds up Rants and they actually do clip skates. So Rants is going off balance going in there, too. If you played the game and you're off balance, you usually put your hands out. I've seen Rants play enough in the last 10 years. It's just one of those hockey plays that happened. I'm hoping Romanov is OK. It's a dangerous play for everybody."
As announced this morning, it appears the NHL Players Safety Association agreed, as Rantanen will not get any additional discipline for the hit. When asked about it today at practice, Rantanen said that he texted Romanov to check on him and Rantanen stated that those kinds of hits are not something he has done or did.
This afternoon it was announced that Romanov was put on the injured reserve with no other details.
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