“That vicious shoulder to the head. Watch it.” Rangers’ coach Peter Laviolette says Pelech hit on Zibanejad was intentional

Some harsh words from one of the veteran coaches in the NHL after a questionable hit.

Following the New York Rangers 4-2 loss at the hands of the rival New York Islanders on Tuesday night, Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette did not mince words after one of his star players was briefly knocked out of the game.

During the third period, Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad was regrouping in the neutral zone when he ran into Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, with Pelech’s shoulder catching Zibanejad up high. The 30-year-old was attended to on the ice by the training staff, but would eventually return to the game.

There was no penalty called on the play. The direction the two players are looking suggests that the collision was an accident, with Zibanejad perfectly in line with Pelech’s shoulder.

However, when speaking to the media after the game, Laviolette deemed that Pelech hit Zibanejad on purpose.

“That vicious shoulder elbow to the head,” Laviolette said. “Watch it.”

Zibanejad’s teammate, Jimmy Vesey, said it was hard to see a quality teammate get hurt.

“It’s kind of scary,” Vesey said. “Big part of our team, big part of our locker room. Sucks to see something like that.”

Islanders head coach Patrick Roy came to his blueliner’s defense.

“I don’t know why we’re talking about this,” Roy said after the game. “I’m a little surprised, because it was clear in my mind that was accidental. We could talk about it for an hour if you want to, but I think we’re wasting our time.”

The Rangers and Islanders meet one more time before the playoffs, as the two teams will meet on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers (53-22-4) are trying to clinch the President’s Trophy. They are currently one point ahead of the Dallas Stars for first place in the league standings. The Islanders (36-27-15) are third in the Metropolitan Division, two points up on the fourth-place Washington Capitals.