Edmonton defenceman Darnell Nurse has been suspended for Game 5 of the Oilers’ second-round playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was given an instigator penalty in Game 4 Wednesday night at Rogers Place for a fight with Nicolas Hague.
That instigator penalty carries an automatic one-game ban but it can also be reviewed by league officials.
The NHL announced just after 1 p.m. MT that Nurse’s suspension had been upheld.
Nurse skated to the end boards and grabbed Hague with 50 seconds left in the game.
The Golden Knight dropped his gloves and landed several punches before Nurse was able to counter with blows of his own.
The fight lasted about 40 seconds before officials broke it up.
Before the suspension was announced, Nurse said that Hague asked him “multiple times” to fight before it happened and “provoked” him throughout the game.
“It’s a fight that takes place between two people who were willing to fight. I didn’t go in there and jump him by any means. I think he threw the first eight punches. So it’s a little bit surprising to get that extra [penalty] on it,” he said.
“With 30 seconds left in a 4-1 game, I think to do it a fair way, to have a fair fight, where both people want to fight and are willing to engage, I think that’s what took place last night.”
Nurse said he thought the instigator rule was to protect players who weren’t willing to fight.
Vegas captain Mark Stone said after the game that he thinks Hague “asked [Nurse to fight] off the faceoff but then gets jumped.” He added it was a “good fight” and “good answer” by Hague.
Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft was also fined $10,000 as part of the “instigating in final five minutes of regulation” rule.
Before the suspension was announced, Woodcroft was asked what he’ll do with his lineup if Nurse can’t play but he said, “I don’t deal in hypotheticals.”
Aside from the defencemen who played Thursday, Edmonton also has Philip Broberg, Markus Niemeläinen, Philip Kemp and Cam Dineen on its roster.
The Oilers won the game 4-1 to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo was scheduled to have a hearing Thursday for his late-game slash on Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl. A suspension is also a possible outcome of that process.
Game 5 will be played in Las Vegas on Friday at 8 p.m. MT.
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