It appeared bad blood between Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames players ended after Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves, but an incident between both team's captains on Wednesday has Flames general manager Brad Treliving vehemently defending Mark Giordano in advance of the next "Battle of Alberta" rivalry game on Saturday.
"Any talk that there is malicious intent in the Gio hit is complete garbage, so let’s just put an end to that," Treliving told reporters Friday.
The incident he referred to turned heads during Wednesday's second period when Sportsnet's broadcast showed Connor McDavid yelling at referees after he was tripped up by Giordano during a race to a loose puck in the neutral zone.
Edmonton's captain beat Giordano to the puck and chipped it past him toward the Oilers' attacking zone, only for Giordano to stick out his left leg, arm and hip in an effort to slow the speedy superstar down. Their legs collided, briefly spinning McDavid around before play continued. While it wasn't clear exactly what McDavid yelled at the on-ice officials, it seemed likely he wanted an interference penalty called on Giordano — at the very least.
MORE: Everything to know about the Matthew Tkachuk-Zack Kassian feud
Another look at Giordano/McDavid pic.twitter.com/Xz3hXAcCOO
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 30, 2020
McDavid told reporters after the game that he didn't "want to start a big media circus at all," and simply called Giordano a hard-nosed player. Oilers head coach Dave Tippett declined to address the incident until he had seen a replay, and once he had the next day, did not appear to think much of the play.
“Did you watch it? Have you looked at it close?" Tippett asked reporters Thursday. "I’m not sure there was much of a knee there, but [Giordano] was trying to stick his hip out a little bit because he was beat. I think cooler heads will probably prevail today.”
Despite Edmonton notably downplaying the incident, Treliving and Giordano himself went to great lengths to break down the play for media members on Friday.
"I saw [Tippett’s] comments yesterday… [when you] talk about a top coach who is a very clear thinker, saw his comments," Treliving said, referencing Tippett's "cooler heads will probably prevail" message. "There’s nothing to it. It’s going to be a hard-played game. You’re talking about a guy who is a Norris Trophy winner, a top player. Obviously Connor is one of the top players in the world. Everybody’s going to battle for their space, but that to me is a non-issue.”
Giordano even admitted he may have gotten away with interference on McDavid on the play, but he maintained he had no intention of clipping his opponent's legs or otherwise trying to injure him.
"I think when you slow things down and you go frame-by-frame it doesn’t give you the speed of the game," he told reporters. "[McDavid is] an exceptional player, and what he’s great at is cutting. He cut real quick; right at the end I tried to get a piece of him. I didn’t try to connect with his knee or legs or anything like that, it was just an honest play, when a guy’s going around you you try to get a piece of him as a d-man."
Perhaps that's all it really was: a high-speed collision between an elite defenseman and one of the game's most talented players, both vying for the slightest advantage. Giordano said he could tell McDavid was upset the rest of the game, but did not say any words were exchanged regarding the incident.
"It’s a heated game, we play a lot against each other, a lot of shifts against each other," Giordano said. "That’s what makes the battle between our two teams great. I think there’s going to be moments like that in every game."
The Oilers and Flames play for the second time in four days on Saturday in Calgary.