At the very last moment Saturday, Andreas Athanasiou saw Jacob Trouba charging at him.

The Blackhawks forward was able to pull his head back ever so slightly, somehow avoiding serious injury as the Rangers captain and defenseman blew him up at the Hawks’ blue line. He bounced back up a few seconds later, played the rest of the game and remained in the Hawks’ lineup Sunday against the Islanders.

But make no mistake, Athanasiou was angry about the sequence. Normally a quieter guy, he couldn’t help but share some thoughts about Trouba before Sunday’s game.

“That guy is known for hitting high, not really worrying about the puck out there and almost trying to hurt people,” Athanasiou said. “That’s his game; that’s what he does. He’s an $8 million man with zero goals, so he has to figure out how to do something when making that much. If you can’t help the team, I guess you try to hurt guys on the other team.”

Trouba wasn’t penalized for the hit, only for fighting in the ensuing scrum. Hawks captain Jonathan Toews — who immediately dropped the gloves to defend Athanasiou — ended up receiving the most discipline (17 penalty minutes).