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In the end, it could cost his team a playoff spot.

For Gulutzan to resort to an embarrassing in-game demotion suggests he’s run out of ways to get through to Gaudreau privately.

Like the couple that fights about the dishes, is this really about the dishes?

Do we really believe one of the most creative players in the league was sent to the fourth unit because his fertile mind made one costly decision?

This goes deeper than that.

After all, plenty of other forwards have made worse reads and maintained their position in the lineup.

Or are his shifts routinely too long, which is a sign of selfishness and a player trying to do too much?

To Gaudreau’s credit, he owned the mistake and didn’t think the coach’s reaction was out of line.

“Not unfair(ly) – it’s something me and him talked about before,” said the former 30-goal scorer who has 11 goals and 35 points in 47 games.

“You’ve got to be smart about it. Listen he gives me a lot of leeway to try to create plays and at that time of the game it wasn’t a time to do that. So he put me down on the fourth line and I still got some chances on the fourth line.”

Photo by Crystal Schick / Postmedia / Independent

It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it was any other Flame.

“Johnny’s a really special player and he knows and he wants to be treated like everyone else,” said Gulutzan.

“And that’s what we do. We try and treat everyone fairly. But there are different rules for different guys. Some guys get more leash than others.”

Obviously, in the midst of a playoff race the goal Tuesday was for everyone involved to downplay everything and focus on a bounce back Wednesday when Gaudreau will return to the top unit with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer against Philadelphia.

“(There’s no rift) at all – we have a good relationship, me and Gully,” said Gaudreau. “We talk a lot and we talked for half an hour this morning when I got to the rink. Not even all about hockey – we talked a little about our families and that’s the kind of relationship you need to have with your coach.

“It was a good lesson. It was a demotion, not a benching – I still got to go out and play. I’ve said before I don’t care who I play with – I just want to go out there and try to make plays and try to help this team win. I’m fine with it.”