The rivalry between Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane and Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman has another chapter as Kane accused Hartman of dragging his skate across his face during Friday night’s game at Rogers Place.
The incident came early in the third period after Kane delivered a hit that injured Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin. While Kane’s hit didn’t draw a penalty, it drew the ire of Hartman, who went after Kane and was given a two-minute penalty for roughing that set up the game-winning goal by Zach Hyman.
Kane was asked about the hit after the game but quickly turned the conversation to Hartman, who he accused of dragging his skate over his face “on purpose” while delivering his retaliatory hit.
“Yeah, I mean the hit…[then] I got punched in the face and then [I] had a skate dragged over my face on purpose,” Kane told reporters. “Then I got up.”
Kane says that Hartman dragged his skate over Kane's face "on purpose" in last night's game. Here's the close-up.#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/HmmwQD3a6E
— spoiled by the oil (@keggsports) December 10, 2023
Video of the incident shows Hartman delivering the hit and his skate moving across the face of Kane, who is lying on the ice as the penalty was called. The incident also comes with precedent as Hartman was given a two-game suspension for slew-footing Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat earlier this month.
Even if Hartman was retaliating for Brodin, who will miss “significant time” as a result of Kane’s hit, the hit also continues a rivalry that has developed between the two in recent years.
In April 2022, Hartman was fined for giving Kane the middle finger after an altercation featuring Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov. While Kane was docked $4,250 for the infraction, Wild fans raised $26,637.05 through his Venmo account to help pay the fine including a $200 donation from Kane’s estranged wife, Anna.
Hartman later donated the money to Children’s Minnesota.
Hartman was also ejected from a game in Nov. 2019 when he was given a major penalty for slashing Kane, who was with the San Jose Sharks.
Hartman and Kane will renew their rivalry when the Wild return to Edmonton on Feb. 23.
