Emotions 'boil over': Perry, Kane speak about disagreement on Oilers bench

Edmonton Oilers forwards Corey Perry, left, and Evander Kane. (Credit: The Canadian Press)

Disagreements happen, and sometimes they cross a line.

Take the case of Corey Perry and Evander Kane — Edmonton Oilers teammates and wily National Hockey League veterans both — who caught the attention of the Saturday broadcast of their game against the Calgary Flames over an apparent disagreement between them.

Perry appeared to be upset with Kane and was animated toward him on the bench, something fans don't often see rinkside.

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"Everything's public when you play in Canada, right," Kane told reporters following Monday's practice at Rogers Place when asked about the drama.

"Conversations and frustrations happen all the time."

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was fine with the show of emotion as he prefers his players to take responsibility.

"It starts with a coach setting a high standard, but I think it's more powerful when the players are setting that standard," Knoblauch said following practice.

"I think it's really important that they hold each other accountable. Sometimes there are outbursts. I think it's best to have those in the room. Sometimes it boils over and the guys show their frustration."

Perry described it as brothers fighting and as coming from a desire to win.

"It's just trying to bring out the best in everybody," Perry told media on Monday.

"We weren't playing our best hockey (at that time of the game). Just frustration and emotions boil over, that's all."

The end result, however, was what mattered in the end, a 4-2 Oilers win that kept the team in the quest to secure as high a seed as possible for the upcoming NHL playoffs.

"That's what makes a team work. That's how you win," Perry said.

"You hold everybody accountable, you push everybody's buttons, you do whatever you have to do to get the best out of everybody. Just at that point, it was something him and I had, but it could be anybody.

"It doesn't doesn't matter who it is, you're just trying to be better and win each game."

Kane shared Perry's point of view — "guys are competitive, want to win and want to make each other better, and that's one of many examples how you can," he said — adding the uncommon emotional display toward a teammate is something people aren't used to seeing.

"I think the world we live in everybody's very sensitive and safe and soft, for lack of a better term, so I think when guys, two veteran guys specifically, show a little motion, people are uncomfortable, but I think with me, and me and him were the least uncomfortable in those situations," Kane said.

"I think it helped our team and we had a great third period."