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Alexander Romanov described it accurately as a clean hit.
Friday night, in the midst of the second period, with the Islanders leading by two goals, Miles Wood was skating through the middle of the ice. As a result of Romanov’s authoritative, but lawful, dismissal, mayhem erupted.
Michael McLeod jumped Roman Romanov in support of his Devils teammate, resulting in a two-minute instigator penalty, a five-minute fighting major, and a ten-minute misconduct. Romanov was immediately led to the penalty box to serve a five-minute major penalty for fighting. Wood had assistance off the ice and did not return to the game. The tension at Prudential Center reached 11 and remained there throughout the Islanders’ eventual 6-4 victory.
“I cannot simply allow him to waltz past four defenders and score,” Romanov said afterward. “I never pursue men. I never intend to destroy someone with my strikes. It is a simple hit.”
That was the defining moment of the game for Romanov, who delivered his best effort as an Islander to that point. With Adam Pelech nursing an upper-body ailment, Romanov was second only to his partner, Scott Mayfield, in ice time with 24:45, including a significant portion against New Jersey’s potent top line of Tomas Tatar, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.
Miles Wood of the Devils lies on the ice after receiving a clean but brutal hit from Alexander Romanov during the Islanders’ 6-4 victory.
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He established the physical tone for the game, finishing plus-one, and assisted on two Islanders goals for his first multi-point performance in blue and orange. With Pelech out of the lineup, it was evident that the Islanders would need their defensemen to step up.
Afterward?
Brock Nelson stated of Romanov, “When he is playing like that, he must be a formidable opponent.”
The Devils attempted to make a comeback against Romanov throughout the night, but the 22-year-old remained resilient.
“After each blow, someone attempted to drop the gloves,” said Romanov. Not surprising.
The Islanders gave up a great deal to acquire Romanov in the draft, trading their first-round pick for a player they believed would fortify their left defensive pairing for the foreseeable future. This transaction cannot be evaluated for much longer than 28 games.
However, on Friday everything seemed quite promising.
Anthony Beauvillier departed the game after colliding violently with the end boards at 8:54 of the first period and did not return. Following the game, Coach Lane Lambert had no update on his condition.
Cal Clutterbuck returned from an upper-body injury to play 13:20 in the third period and score a goal. After suffering a hit to the face in the first period, he played the remaining 40 minutes with a full cage.
Kyle Palmieri (upper-body) and Pelech did not travel to Newark.
»Alexander Romanov’s goal sets the tone for the Islanders’ victory over the Devils«