The Edmonton Oilers lost a heartbreaker at home in overtime of Game 5 in their first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. Now, the Oilers won’t have their No. 1 defenseman when they head to L.A. trying to stave off elimination in Game 6.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday that Darnell Nurse has been suspended one game for head-butting Kings center Phillip Danault during Game 5. Nurse first had a hearing with the DOPS, which did not guarantee a suspension, but the evidence against Nurse was damning.
Here’s a look at the incident in review. While jostling in front of the Oilers’ net, Nurse leads with his head, launching his body like a missile, driving his helmet upward into Danault’s chin.
The DOPS has no official policy on weighting suspensions in the regular season versus the playoffs, but it always considers context, and sitting Nurse for an elimination game is akin to a multi-game ban in the regular season. The DOPS did the same for Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall in 2015, suspending him for a Game 7 after he caught the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov with an illegal check to the head.
Nurse is not classified as a repeat offender under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement. He was last suspended in 2016 for an aggressor-rule violation after pummeling Roman Polak with punches following a hit Nurse perceived as dirty. Nurse earned a three-game ban at the time.
Head-butting suspensions are typically rare in today’s NHL, but Nurse’s is not the first this season. St. Louis Blues right winger Pavel Buchnevich earned a two-game ban for headbutting Arizona’s Lawson Crouse in October, while Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman got two games in January for head-butting Boston’s Erik Haula.
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