The New York Islanders placed defenseman Alexander Romanov on injured reserve Wednesday because of an upper-body injury.
Romanov was hurt with 27 seconds left in the Islanders’ 3-2 road win over Dallas when Stars forward Mikko Rantanen hit him from behind and hurtled him headfirst into the back boards. Romanov was helped from the ice.
Rantanen drew a boarding major penalty and a game misconduct. ESPN reported on Wednesday that the NHL Department of Player Safety determined Rantanen will not receive any other disciplinary punishment.
“Obviously, I never meant to do that,” Rantanen said Wednesday. “I’ve never done that my whole career. I play hard, but I never try to be dirty on purpose. I think I got clipped a little bit, and then he (fell) forward. Unfortunate moment, but I never really meant to do it. Hopefully he’s not too bad.”
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Rantanen was off-balance after his skates made contact with Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield’s skates before colliding with Romanov.
“If you watch the play, I think Mayfield holds up Rants and they actually 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,” Gulutzan said. “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.”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy was extremely upset with Rantanen, yelling profanities at him as the ejected player left the ice.
“When you see the number, you have to lay off. Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy,” Roy told reporters after the game. “I was in Colorado when (Rantanen) was drafted there. It’s not his style. But at the same time, that should not be part of our game.”
Romanov, 25, has one assist, a minus-7 rating, six penalty minutes, 31 blocks and 31 hits with an average ice time of 19:27 in 15 games this season. He missed five games earlier this season due to an upper-body injury.
He has 84 career points (17 goals, 67 assists), a plus-26 rating, 163 penalty minutes, 700 blocks and 898 hits in 369 regular-season games for the Montreal Canadiens (2020-22) and Islanders (2022-present).
The Canadiens selected Romanov in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. They traded him to the Islanders in July 2022.
