Blackhawks forward Ryan Hartman had an interesting choice of words after Saturday night’s 3-1 loss to the Oilers when describing his decision to fight Oilers defenseman Eric Gryba in the second period — a fight that led to multiple penalties for Hartman and an Oilers power play on which they scored the game’s first goal in the second period.
Hartman said the decision was a "no brainer," which was a noteworthy description given the stories of some former NHL enforcers who have battled consequences of head trauma in retirement.
But what Hartman meant was that he would stick up for a teammate no matter what, in this case, Tanner Kero, whom Gryba shoved into the boards moments earlier in a manner the Hawks didn’t appreciate.
So Hartman got Gryba to drop gloves. Hartman had hoped he goaded Gryba into the fight in such a way that he wouldn’t draw an instigator penalty call, but no such luck. Hartman was flagged with fighting and instigating penalties along with a 10-minute misconduct. Gryba only received a fighting penalty.
"I tried waiting long enough so it wasn’t an instigator (penalty)," Hartman said. "But it’s kind of a judgment call. Some refs call it different ways, but unfortunately it ended up in a power play for them. It’s something you just have to do."
Matt Benning scored on that power play for the Oilers when a puck he sent toward the net went in off the skate of Hawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Even though it ended up as a net negative for the Hawks, Hartman’s teammates and his coach didn’t disapprove of the move.
"We like him to have that abrasiveness and unpredictability so there’s nothing wrong with that," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We like how he competes and what he brings us."
Added goaltender Corey Crawford: "It was good. Anything like that, a big block, a big fight, those things pick you up and they get the team going. It was good by him."
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