Warning: Story contains coarse language

During the second period of Monday night's tilt between the Wild and Flyers, Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk took exception to Philadelphia forward Scott Laughton invading his personal space.

Flyers netminder Carter Hart admitted he briefly considered engaging in a goalie fight with Dubnyk, but thought better of it.

"I probably would have gotten my ass kicked," Hart told Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post.

The tale of the tape certainly wouldn't have favored the Flyers' rookie goaltender. Hart, 20, stands at 6-foot-2 and 181 lbs, while Dubnyk, 32, is listed at 6-foot-6, 224 lbs.

There's no record of Dubnyk partaking in a goalie fight in the NHL, but he's no stranger to ruffling feathers. In two separate incidents during the 2016-17 season, he engaged in a shoving match with Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog and started a line brawl with the New York Islanders.

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Jake Gardiner's head coach and teammates had his back after he was booed in a defeat on home ice Monday night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs blue-liner heard boos nearly every time he touched the puck in the third period of a 6-3 loss to the Avalanche, after forward Carl Soderberg overpowered him, stole the puck, and scored a shorthanded goal to give Colorado the lead late in the second frame.

"That hasn't happened before, that's for sure," Gardiner told reporters postgame. "Not something you want to hear, but plays happen in the game, fans are passionate and they want to win."

Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock came to the rearguard's defense, adding that Toronto fans are entitled to express themselves.

"He's a really, really good player, a really important piece," Babcock said. "He didn't play good. The good thing about our fans is they're passionate, they want us to win, they want us to play way harder than that. We want to play harder than that for them. I think we've done a good job over time here to be a real good team to watch. We weren't good enough to watch. They paid their money, they're allowed to say what they want. The bottom line is he's an important player for us, we need him to be good."

Mitch Marner insisted Gardiner doesn't get enough recognition for his contributions.

"The guy does everything for this team," the forward said, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "People don't give him enough credit ever ... (it was) pretty disappointing to hear that. That guy means a lot to this team not just on the ice, but off the ice as well."

Fellow Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly emphasized how important Gardiner has been to the club for nearly a decade.

"Jake's a great player, he's been a great player for this team for eight years now, maybe more," Rielly said. "He comes to work every day like a pro, works hard. His teammates love him, he's the most popular guy in this room, he works hard. Guys make mistakes out there all night. That's the way the game is, it's played on ice so things happen that can be unpredictable. Just happens that ends up in the back of the net, if not it's probably a nothing play. He's a pro, he'll come to work tomorrow ready to go and we'll move on. Like I said, we've got a road trip to worry about."

Gardiner was held pointless with a five-on-five Corsi For rating of 22.22 and an even plus-minus rating Monday night.

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Details have emerged concerning the incident that saw the Columbus Blue Jackets withhold goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the team for one of their games last week.

After being pulled with 11 minutes left in a 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 8, Bobrovsky went straight to the dressing room to get undressed and hit the showers, sources confirmed to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Bobrovsky was unavailable to return to the crease in the unlikely event that backup Joonas Korpisalo had to exit the game and his actions infuriated head coach John Tortorella, Portzline adds.

Following the game, Seth Jones, Boone Jenner, and Cam Atkinson were among a group of Blue Jackets players that pulled Bobrovsky aside for a meeting on the tarmac before the team's flight from Tampa.

In the aftermath of the incident, Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen kept Bobrovsky from joining the team for a Jan. 10 contest versus the Nashville Predators for disciplinary reasons that were kept under wraps by the team.

Bobrovsky has started one game since the incident, winning a 7-5 decision over the New York Rangers on Sunday.

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Hours after trading away a veteran, Bob Murray revealed he's going to resume negotiations with his biggest pending unrestricted free agent.

After shipping Andrew Cogliano to the Dallas Stars for Devin Shore on Monday, the Anaheim Ducks general manager explained his approach to Jakob Silfverberg's future.

"You take another crack at signing him," Murray said, according to the club's official website. "We're going to do that right now and we'll see where that goes. Silvy knows exactly where I'm at. He's a good hockey player. He's one of those ones right now standing up and being counted. I have to take a shot at it. We'll see where we go."

Silfverberg is in the final season of the four-year, $15-million pact he inked with the Ducks in the summer of 2015. The deal carries a $3.75-million cap hit.

The 28-year-old winger has been one of the few bright spots for the Ducks this campaign, leading the team with 12 goals in 41 games.

He was moved up to Anaheim's top line Sunday night, playing alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell.

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Peter Chiarelli and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers' brass are reportedly pulling out all the stops to help salvage their season.

The organization is on a "full-court press" to find forward help, according to TSN's Ryan Rishaug.

Edmonton has only $51,371 in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly.

The Oilers have an embarrassment of riches down the middle with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Elsewhere up front, however, there are significant holes:

Outside of the aforementioned trio, Alex Chiasson is Edmonton's only forward to have met or exceeded expectations thus far.

Since taking over as Oilers general manager in April 2015, Chiarelli has traded away Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Drake Caggiula, and the draft picks that became Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. All Edmonton has to show for it are Adam Larsson, Ryan Spooner, and Brandon Manning.

On Dec. 14, Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson said Chiarelli's job is safe as long as the Oilers make the playoffs.

The Oilers acquired both Manning and Alex Petrovic in separate trades on Dec. 30 in an attempt to shore up the blue line, and it appears the focus has now shifted toward a forward group severely lacking depth.

Despite a turbulent season thus far, Edmonton sits just two points out of a playoff spot.

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Peter Chiarelli and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers' brass are reportedly pulling out all the stops to help salvage their season.

The organization is on a "full-court press" to find forward help, according to TSN's Ryan Rishaug.

The Oilers have an embarrassment of riches down the middle with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Elsewhere up front, however, there are significant holes:

Outside of the aforementioned trio, Alex Chiasson is Edmonton's only forward to have met or exceeded expectations thus far.

Since taking over as Oilers general manager in April 2015, Chiarelli has traded away Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Drake Caggiula, and the draft picks that became Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. All Edmonton has to show for it are Adam Larsson, Ryan Spooner, and Brandon Manning.

On Dec. 14, Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson said Chiarelli's job is safe as long as the Oilers make the playoffs.

The Oilers acquired both Manning and Alex Petrovic in separate trades on Dec. 30 in an attempt to shore up the blue line, and it appears the focus has now shifted toward a forward group severely lacking depth.

Despite a turbulent season thus far, Edmonton sits just two points out of a playoff spot.

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Josh Gorges is calling it quits.

The rugged blue-liner announced his retirement after spending 13 NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, and Buffalo Sabres.

Gorges spent the bulk of his career - 464 of his 783 career games - with the Habs, where he became a solid shutdown defenseman at his peak.

The 34-year-old played in 34 games with the Sabres last season before going unsigned in free agency this summer.

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen returned to the crease on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche.

Andersen missed Toronto's last eight games due to a groin injury and more recently, the flu.

He's put himself in the Vezina Trophy conversation this season on the back of a 20-9-1 record with a .923 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average.

Andersen has arguably been Toronto's MVP this season, as the club went 4-4-0 during his eight-game hiatus - with Garret Sparks and Michael Hutchinson defending the cage - but managed a 9-5-0 record during Auston Matthews' month-long absence earlier in the campaign.

Sparks missed the last five games due to a concussion, but he'll return as Andersen's backup on Monday, according to Masters.

Since Hutchinson has played less than 10 games this season, he can be sent down to the AHL without having to clear waivers. The Maple Leafs traded a fifth-round pick to the Florida Panthers for Hutchinson on Dec. 29.

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