Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse suspended one game for instigating fight

The Edmonton Oilers will be without defenseman Darnell Nurse for Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights as he serves a one-game suspension for instigating a fight.

The on-ice officials at Rogers Place in Edmonton deemed that Nurse instigated a fight with Vegas defenseman Nic Hague with 50 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s 4–1 Oilers win. Per NHL rule 46.21, any instigator penalty in the last five minutes of regulation results in an automatic one-game suspension.

The NHL Department of Player Safety upheld the automatic supplemental discipline for Nurse’s actions on Thursday afternoon. In addition to Nurse’s suspension, the league handed Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft a $10,000 fine.

There may still be more supplemental discipline yet to come as a result of Wednesday’s feisty playoff contest in Edmonton. Earlier on Thursday, the Department of Player Safety announced that it will hold a hearing with Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo related to his aggressive slash on Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl late in the third period of Game 4.

Nurse logged a team-high 23:07 for the Oilers on Wednesday as they evened their playoff series against Vegas with a convincing 4–1 win. The 28-year-old defenseman has yet to score a goal in these playoffs but he picked up his fourth assist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ tally in the second period.

Nick Bjugstad, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers, while Nicolas Roy netted the only goal for Vegas. Edmonton controlled the shots in the contest by a 33–26 count.

Nurse will be unavailable (and Woodcroft’s wallet will be slightly lighter) when the Oilers and Golden Knights return to action for a critical Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas at 8:00 p.m. MT on Friday night.