Evander Kane accuses Ryan Hartman of trying to cut him with his skate.

This would be a very serious accusation even at the best of times, but in the wake of the Adam Johnson tragedy earlier this year this feels like an extremely heavy accusation on the part of Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane.

Kane has accused Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman of dragging his skate across his face, and doing so intentionally, during the clash between the Wild and Oilers that occurred on Friday night.

"I had a skate dragged over my face on purpose," said Kane of the incident during the 3rd period of Friday night's game.

When asked if the player who had committed the act was Hartman, Kane responded in the affirmative.

"I believe so, yeah" said Kane when asked if Hartman had been the one to drag his skate across his face.

Hartman was going after Kane after the Oilers forward delivered a punishing hit to Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin, one that has knocked out Brodin for what is believed to be the next 4 weeks of action. While Hartman was clearly retaliating against Kane for a hit that left one of the Wild's core players injured, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which he would intentionally use his skate as a weapon.