Pietrangelo facing discipline, Nurse awaits call on instigator suspension
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The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights could both be without their top defenceman in a crucial Game 5 Friday.
Alex Pietrangelo, who leads the Golden Knights in average ice time at 24:36 per game this postseason, will have a hearing Thursday for his slash on Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl late in Game 4. The 33-year-old, who has six assists in nine playoff games, averages four more minutes of ice time than any other Vegas player.
Darnell Nurse, who is second only to Connor McDavid on the Oilers in average ice time in the playoffs, is facing an automatic one-game suspension after receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of Game 4. Nurse received the additional penalty after dropping the gloves with Nicolas Hague in the game's final minute.
The automatic suspension can be overturned upon review and Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft argued after Wednesday's game that it should be.
"I saw the play going on, I saw Darnell wrap somebody up and I saw their player with his gloves off first," Woodcroft said. "So to me, that's two willing combatants. It's not like someone was turtled up into a ball.
"I thought it started with [Hague] having his gloves off first and he threw the first eight punches."
Nurse said Thursday he was surprised to receive the instigator penalty and had not yet been informed whether he'd be available for the pivotal Game 5 in Vegas.
“I think the instigator [rule] was put in place to protect guys who didn’t want to fight from guys who wanted to," Nurse said. "That wasn’t the case last night. He asked me multiple times to fight. It was two guys who wanted to fight."
The 28-year-old has four assists in 10 playoff games this spring. His 23:23 of average ice time is almost two minutes higher, than the next Oilers defenceman, Evan Bouchard, at 21:44.
Pietrangelo was ejected from his team's 4-1 loss on Wednesday for the slash on Draisaitl after he attempted an empty-net shot. Draisaitl threw the puck wide of the net in the third period and four seconds later was slashed on the left arm by Pietrangelo.
The incident led to Connor McDavid exchanging gloved punches with Pietrangelo, who received a five-minute major penalty for slashing and a 10-minute misconduct with less than 90 seconds remaining.
"You would like to see it reviewed for sure. I'd like to see it suspended," McDavid said post-game. "It was as intent to injure as you can get. That was not a hockey play."
"If you're asking my opinion on that play, I would not define it as a hockey play," Woodcroft added. "And I'll leave it at that."
The Oilers tied the series at 2-2 with the victory on Wednesday. Draisaitl leads all players in the postseason with 13 goals and 18 points, having added an assist to his totals in Game 4.