After watching his Minnesota Wild teammate Kirill Kaprizov miss his action Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets due to multiple double-checks from Brenden Dillon, Ryan Hartman had a message to convey.
The two teams met for a rematch the next day and he made it clear to his opponents that they should not try to attack the team's star. Except his dirty gesture at Cole Perfetti's expense didn't go unnoticed.
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Hartman hit him in the face with a stick during a faceoff, and the young Jets player told the media Tuesday that his rival told him he would hurt him in retaliation. Perfetti also wore a microphone during this game.
“It's a disgrace that players are being intentionally injured,” he said, whose comments were relayed by journalist Mike McIntyre on Tuesday. […] He said it in a respectful manner. There was no lack of respect, but it had to happen considering what happened with Kaprizov.
“It’s kind of weird to admit it like that,” he continued. [Hartman] made it very clear that this was what happened on Saturday, even though I had nothing to do with the incident in question.”
In the case of the Manitoba player, he escaped with a scratch on his face, while the National Hockey League (NHL) fined Hartman $4,427.08.
Additionally, the NHL could not use the taped sequence in question to punish the former Chicago Blackhawks because a 2005 agreement prohibits the Bettman circuit from using it to impose a penalty, according to the Sportsnet network.
Due to the lower body injury suffered on Saturday, Kaprizov will be off the ice for one to two weeks.