Islanders' Horvat: Draisaitl's trip 'looked pretty dirty'

New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat wasn't a fan of Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl's actions during the teams' first matchup of the season Monday night.

The two players got into it along the boards midway through the second period of the Oilers' 4-1 victory. Horvat knocked Draisaitl down during a puck battle, and the German responded by cross-checking the back of Horvat's legs.

"I couldn't believe it, to be honest with you," Horvat said Wednesday, according to Newsday's Andrew Gross."I didn't think he did it like that. I thought it was like he pushed the back of my leg. I didn't realize he full-on cross-checked me."

"I'm not going to lie, it looked pretty dirty," he continued. "It definitely wasn't a clean play. I don't know if he was just mad because I hit him a couple of times. But you shouldn't be doing that to the back of guys' knees like that. That's how you get hurt. Luckily, I didn't, but you've just got to be careful of that."

Draisaitl picked up a minor penalty for tripping and was fined $5,000 on Tuesday, the maximum allowable amount under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement.

Horvat is in the midst of his first full season with the Islanders after coming over from the Vancouver Canucks in late January. He's playing out the first campaign of an eight-year, $68-million extension.

The 28-year-old's comments came ahead of his first game back in Vancouver since the trade. Horvat said Monday that the city in which he spent the first nine seasons of his career will "always hold a special place" in his heart.

Heading into Wednesday's action, Horvat ranked second on the Islanders with four goals and 11 points in 13 outings.