Oilers' Darnell Nurse to have a hearing for dangerous play on Kings' Phillip Danault
There could be a massive development for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles game six on Thursday. The Kings defeated the Oilers 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night to take a 3-2 series lead back to LA.
It might not be the only loss for Edmonton as they might be without their top defenseman for game six as well. Darnell Nurse is set to have a hearing Wednesday for a headbutt to the face of Kings' forward Phillip Danault during game five.
Nurse was not assessed a penalty on the play, which may end up being worse for him, forcing NHL Player Safety to hand out a more significant punishment. He has only been suspended once before in his career for three games "serving as the aggressor" during an altercation with San Jose Sharks Roman Polak in 2016.
Here's the headbutt from another angle:
I fully expect Darnell Nurse to get a one-game suspension and miss game six, which would be crucial for an elimination game for the Edmonton Oilers.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman was suspended one game back in January for a headbutt to the face of Boston Bruins' forward Erik Haula.
Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson also had a hearing for a headbutt in October of this season on Oilers Kailer Yamamoto but was only handed a $5000 fine for the incident:
I believe Nurse had more of an intent to injure than either of the previous two, but who knows with the NHL Player Safety Department this season. Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon was only fined $5000 for literally trying to break St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich's ankle earlier in the playoffs:
Let us know what you think will be the outcome of Darnell Nurse's headbutt:
| POLL | ||
What do you think Darnell Nurse's punishment should be for the headbutt to Phillip Danault? | ||
| $5000 fine | 48 | 32.9 % |
| 1 game suspension | 21 | 14.4 % |
| 2-3 game suspension | 33 | 22.6 % |
| 3+ games | 44 | 30.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
