The Wild recalled rugged left wing Kurtis Gabriel from AHL Iowa today. He didn't arrive in Calgary in time for practice, but there's a chance he could be in the lineup Friday night when the Wild visits the Flames.
While coach Bruce Boudreau said Gabriel won't necessarily play, it's clear Gabriel was chosen as the callup in part because the Wild's worried the game could get chippy if the Flames seek retribution after the last meeting Nov. 15 when star left wing Johnny Gaudreau fractured a finger and ultimately underwent surgery.
The Flames have been shorthanded 97 times, the most in the NHL (34 times more than the Wild). Their penalty kill has been beatable, too, ranking 28th, killing just 77.3 percent.
Flames bloggers, especially, accused the Wild of targeting Gaudreau with 21 slashes throughout the course of the game. As you can see by the videos on the links, he seemed to first hurt himself on a Ryan Suter slash, then a couple from Eric Staal.
Asked if he expects the game to get chippy, Boudreau said, "It shouldn't be. Look it, the Gaudreau injury, if you watch hockey, it was an accident. If you play hockey, you know the gloves are made out of nothing now. Everybody gets touched. It was Eric Staal.
"Eric Staal, what was the most penalty minutes he's ever got in a year? If you think he's a dirty player that's going for Gaudreau's hand, then we're all mistaken. I think it was a crazy allegation by them, but at the same time, you never know what's going to happen."
You may laugh at the glove comment, but a couple NHLers I've actually talked to lately commented that if Gaudreau plans to carry the puck as much as he does, especially the circling in the offensive zone, he probably has to get better protection on the gloves.
Staal said, "I'm not worried. You play the game the same way every time regardless of circumstances. We'll be prepared to go and try to get the two points because that's the most important thing."