Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti said Tuesday that Minnesota Wild winger Ryan Hartman admitted to deliberately high-sticking him during Sunday's game between the two teams.
Hartman was not penalized in Sunday's 3-2 win for the Jets but was fined $4,427.08, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for high-sticking Perfetti on Tuesday.
The incident happened when Hartman and Perfetti lined up for faceoff. Hartman's stick came up and hit Perfetti in the face.
Perfetti told members of the media Tuesday that Hartman told him the play was in retaliation for uncalled cross-checks by Jets blueliner Brendon Dillon that injured Kirill Kaprizov when the two teams played one night earlier. He added that audio of the admission was recorded since he was wearing a microphone for the game.
"He said it in kind of a respectful way. No disrespect, nothing against you, it had to happen for what happened to Kaprizov there," said Perfetti, who required stitches from the high-stick. ""Kind of a weird thing to come out and admit it. 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."
"We caught it all, we caught the whole convo," he added. "I was mic'd up, so I don't know if he realized that or not, I mean they're supposed to get notified but to come out and blatantly say it to the mic, it worked out in our favour."
#NHLJets Cole Perfetti says #MNWild Ryan Hartman told him the high-stick off the faceoff that drew this fine was payback for Dillon’s crosscheck on Kaprizov the day before.
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) January 2, 2024
Perfetti was mic’ed up for the Jets “Runway” in-house features so the exchange was caught on tape. https://t.co/J4Tx9BY4aF
Bowness: Jets found out post-game
When asked about the details revealed by Perfetti Tuesday, Jets head coach Rick Bowness said his team only found out about Hartman's comments post-game.
Bowness said the incident would have been dealt with differently had the team been aware of it during Sunday's game.
#NHLJets coach Rick Bowness just told me Cole Perfetti kept Ryan Hartman’s comments about deliberate high-stick to himself until after the game. Bowness says it would have been dealt with much differently had the team known during the game.
— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) January 2, 2024
Hartman was suspended two games earlier in the season for tripping Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat. The 29-year-old has 11 goals and 17 points in 30 games with Minnesota this season, his fifth with the team.
Perfetti, who had one assist Sunday against the Wild, has 10 goals and 23 points in 35 games this season.
The two teams are next scheduled to meet on Feb. 20, when the Jets host the Wild.
