Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers is knocked to the ice by Ryan Reaves of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 16, in Toronto.Claus Andersen/Getty Images
The Maple Leafs will be without veteran winger Ryan Reaves for two weeks beginning with Wednesday’s game in Toronto against the Vegas Golden Knights.
On Sunday the NHL’s department of player safety suspended Reaves for five games without pay for delivering an illegal check to the head of Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse during the second period on Saturday night.
Reaves, who has made a living as an enforcer in the league for 14 years, will have to forfeit US$35,156.25. It is the fourth time the 37-year-old has been suspended during his career, with three of those being for dangerous hits.
In its decision the player safety committee said Reaves mistimed the hit, called it avoidable and also mentioned his history of similar offences.
The play cast a pall over a very nice victory in overtime in an entertaining matchup between two of the league’s best teams.
Reaves charged at Nurse and thrust his left shoulder into the defenceman’s face, leaving him in a dazed heap. Nurse was bleeding from above his right eye as he was helped from the ice and was unable to return. Reaves had a hearing earlier Sunday with the Department of Player Safety.
There are plenty of excuses that can be offered – hockey is a fast sport, nobody wants to see anybody else get injured, etc. – but the hit was hard to defend.
Nurse was looking in another direction and never saw Reaves, which left him vulnerable. Under the circumstances Reaves could have still thrown a legal check or one that may have drawn only a two-minute minor roughing penalty.
Instead he was kicked out. Fans at Scotiabank Arena booed when officials announced a match penalty and an accompanying five-minute power play for the Oilers. Reaves is an animated, likeable guy but there was nothing to like about what transpired.
Reaves apparently visited Edmonton’s dressing room to issue a face-to-face apology – a commendable act but one that didn’t resonate with the NHL.
The Oilers, who lost 4-3, were angry afterward.
“It’s a dangerous play,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the veteran forward. “Reaves had to know that Darnell didn’t see him coming and should have chosen a different path, and he didn’t.”
Kris Knoblauch, the Edmonton coach, made a terse assessment.
“There was contact to the head,” he said. “That is what I saw.”
Nurse had a knot over his right eye on Saturday night, and there has been no update about his condition. Both the Oilers and Maple Leafs took the day off on Sunday.
Toronto trailed 2-1 in the third period, allowed Edmonton to tie in the last 90 seconds and won with a quick goal in extra time by Mitch Marner. Bobby McMann scored twice and Matthew Knies got the other in a fast-paced well-played game.
It was the 200th goal of Marner’s career and the second straight come-from-behind victory after a 4-3 win in overtime in Washington on Wednesday. Anthony Stolarz stopped 27 of 30 shots and was solid again in the net.
On the other side, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist as they are wont to do. Nobody should have gone home disappointed after this one. If only the teams played more than twice during the regular season. It is hockey feast.
The Maple Leafs were cautious to say the right things afterward. They seemed to anticipate that Reaves was likely in trouble.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Knies said. “It was definitely not [Ryan’s] intention to hurt someone. I hope Nurse is okay. It’s not something you ever want to see.”
Said Marner: “I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
Toronto coach Craig Berube said he had not yet seen a replay and deferred when asked for a comment.
“I wish Darnell well,” he said. “We don’t like to see that happen to anybody.”