"Vicious!"
"Shoulder To The Head."
Those were Peter Laviolette's precise words indicting Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech last Tuesday for the obviously accidental collision that sent the Rangers' Mika Zibanejad to temporary La-La-Land.
It doesn't matter whether Lavvy really meant it or merely was using the smear as an incendiary mortar to rouse his warriors to revenge -- or simply as an accidental slip of the tongue as a result of a coach's frustration.
What matters is the fallout today when the playoff-seeking Isles face the Presidents' Trophy-seeking Rangers at The Garden.
As one who has covered the NHL long before Laviolette was born, The Maven can assure you the upcoming game is not likely to win Good Housekeeping's Seal of Approval.
Nor do I expect it to open with a five-on-five brawl -- a la Rangers-vs. Devils -- that remains in my rear view mirror.
Then again; as we all know, when it comes to a hockey rivalry such as this one, anything is possible.
If Lavvy is starting his resident fourth-liner-occasional-goon, Matt Rempe -- The Man Mountain Skater can be expected to do his imitation of a bull-in-an-Isles shop. And very likely more than that. Hit-and-run accidents do happen on the ice, you know.
Which presents visiting coach Patrick Roy with a challenge.
Roy does not possess a flagpole ruffian even close to Rempe's 6-8-and-a-half monstrosity nor do the Orange and Blue even possess a heavyweight titlist that they had until Ross Johnston exited to points West.
But that's only a portion of Roy's woes, if you will, since he also hasn't figured out how to defuse the Blueshirts' power play bombs which were lethal last Tuesday on Long Island.
Take it from The Maven, who began covering the NHL long before coach Roy was born, I never have seen a power play with such perfectly-meshed gears as the one Laviolette has devised.
Watching the Manhattanites enjoy the man advantage at UBS Arena last Tuesday, I could do nothing but be awed, while admiring not only by its speed and passing agility, but also the mightily accurate shot of Chris Kreider.
I can only wonder how the Isles -- with Ilya Sorokin in goal -- can find a way to deconstruct such a scoring machine. You can't talk the Rangers out of it, that's for sure. Then again, I wouldn't put anything past Roy.
As an orator, Peter Laviolette never will be in the Winston Churchill class, so we are left with this pithy comment about today's lethal affair:
"It could be a good game -- a competitive and spirited game!
As for "vicious,?"
We'll let the Department Of Player Safety" decide that!