Robin Lehner has channeled his inner Billy Smith.
Lehner was emerging as the Islanders starting goalie with the playoffs right around the corner when the Senators’ Brady Tkachuk came barreling down and railroaded him on March 5 at the Coliseum. It presumably gave Lehner a concussion, forcing him from that game and keeping him out until he returned to practice Wednesday.
But just like Smith, the sharp-edged netminder of the Islanders’ glory years, Lehner was none too pleased with a collision he deemed not only avoidable, but intentional, regardless of whether Tkachuk was pushed from behind by the Islanders’ Brock Nelson — which was the call when the collision resulted in the game-tying goal.