The fallout from the Jets’ physical home-and-home series with the Wild spilled into Tuesday when Winnipeg forward Cole Perfetti revealed that Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman told him he high-sticked him on purpose.
The play in question came just 1:51 into the first period of Sunday’s game in St. Paul, Minn., which was the second of the two-game series. Perfetti and Hartman lined up for in the Wild zone for what seemed like an innocuous faceoff. As the puck is dropped, Hartman’s stick clips Perfetti in the face.
No penalty was called, but on Tuesday the NHL Department of Player Safety fined the Minnesota forward $4,427.08 — the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement — for the play.
“He said it in kind of a respectful way. ‘No disrespect, nothing against you. It had to happen for what happened to Kaprizov there,’” Perfetti told reporters on Tuesday, about Hartman’s later admission.
That’s a reference to Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov, who took a pair of cross-checks from the Jets’ Brenden Dillon in Saturday’s tilt and had to leave the game. The Russian did not play in the rematch on Sunday and is expected to miss one to two weeks with an injury.
“Kind of a weird thing to come out and admit it,” Perfetti said. “He blatantly said it was for what happened (Saturday), even though I didn’t even do anything in the play. I had nothing to do with it.”
The initial fallout from the Kaprizov injury occurred at puck drop of Sunday’s game, when Jets captain Adam Lowry fought the Wild’s Pat Maroon. According to Perfetti, Hartman felt there was more that needed to be settled.
Perfetti said he was wearing a microphone during the game, so Hartman’s admission was recorded.
“We caught it all,” Perfetti said, laughing. “I was mic’d up. I don’t know if he realized that or not.”
According to Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, audio from a microphone worn by a player cannot be used in connection with disciplinary action.
When asked if he was satisfied with the fine for Hartman, Jets head coach Rick Bowness said: “The league is well aware of what happened and why it happened, and that’s how they dealt with it. A decision was made by the league. I wasn’t part of the conversation. They didn’t ask my opinion on it.”
from Sportsnet.ca https://ift.tt/1a2HE7T
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