Kurtis Gabriel doesn’t play a pile of minutes, so it’s a little surprising that Zach Bogosian took such an interest in the 25-year-old forward prior to puck drop between the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
It must be something he said.
Indeed, Gabriel got under the veteran defenseman’s skin well before the game officially started. A heated conversation at the center line during warmup seemed to spark an extended battle between the two as the usual pre-game skate progressed.
Bogosian took issue with something Gabriel chirped in their first exchange and swatted the latter in the back of the leg before departing, momentarily at least.
Bogosian hooked Gabriel on another pass-by later on, then proceeded to fire a puck his way before the intense death glare. Of course, Bogosian wasn’t finished. He got in a solid cross-check to Gabriel’s arm followed by a quick slash -- Bogosian’s version of a 1-2, apparently.
Here’s the tape:
It's getting chippy out there and the puck hasn't even dropped yet! 😳
— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) February 17, 2019
Get ready @NJDevils and @BuffaloSabres fans! pic.twitter.com/SNmzdscWqs
Gabriel didn’t budge. Instead, he mocked Bogosian before Drew Stafford skated between the two to diffuse the situation.
Nothing seemed to come of it during the game and the pair didn’t drop the gloves.
Bogosian finished with nearly 21 minutes of ice time while Gabriel had 7:03.
The Devils got the last laugh, winning 4-1.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck