Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse exits game after Reaves head shot: 'Dangerous play'

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse (25) lays on the ice after colliding with Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Ryan Reaves (75) during second period NHL hockey action, in Toronto, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov)

Darnell Nurse picked up the puck behind his own net and started to move up ice.

The Oilers defenceman never saw Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves coming.

It was both players' last act in Saturday night's back-and-forth tilt at Scotiabank Arena.

Nurse was left bloodied and had to be helped to the locker room after taking a hit to the head from Reaves early in the second period of Toronto's 4-3 overtime victory against Edmonton. 

The blueliner stayed down for a few minutes in front of a hushed crowd as he was attended to by trainers. Reaves, who exchanged words with Oilers captain Connor McDavid before heading down the tunnel for an early shower, was assessed a five-minute match penalty. 

Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch didn't provide an injury update post-game, but Nurse was spotted in the hallway outside the locker room with a cut over his swollen right eye.

"It's a dangerous play," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "(Reaves) has got to know that Nursey doesn't see him coming and choose the right path there, and he doesn't. It's tough to see one of your teammates on the ice like that. 

"Dangerous play." 

Edmonton centre Adam Henrique, who opened the scoring early in the first, said the game is played at a high rate of speed, but added NHLers can adjust their bodies to avoid contact like Reaves on Nurse.

"We're professional athletes and we're able to make those decisions quick," Henrique said. "You know when a guy's vulnerable or in a bad spot. 

"One you don't want to see." 

The 29-year-old Nurse has two goals and seven assists in 18 games this season. 

"Penalty kill, power play, 5-on-5 minutes," Knoblauch said. "He's a very important piece of our team, especially how well he had been playing this last week or two."

Nugent-Hopkins has battled alongside Nurse for more than a decade in the Alberta capital.

"He's huge to our group on the ice, off the ice," he said. "You never want to see anybody on your team, no matter what, get hit like that and go down. But Nursey's such a huge part of our group.

"We obviously feel it." 

The six-foot-two, 225-pound Reaves has been suspended three times in his NHL career, including twice for bad hits, for a total of six games. The 37-year-old has also been fined on two occasions.

"That's the side of the game you never want to see," Leafs winger Bobby McMann, who scored twice Saturday, said of the collision. "Guys are playing hard. I don't think he was trying to finish high like that — I know he wasn't. He's just playing it hard and trying to get through guys, trying to win a hockey game.

"Sometimes you clip a guy the wrong way."

Nugent-Hopkins didn't bite when asked about potential supplemental discipline from the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

"The call on the ice, that was the right call," he said. "They should take a good, hard look, for sure." 

The Leafs were trailing 2-1 when Reaves thumped the unsuspecting Nurse, but killed off the Oilers' five-minute power play.

"We all wish Darnell well," said Toronto head coach Craig Berube, who added he had yet to look at a replay of the hit. "We don't like to see that on anybody, but we knew it was a big moment in the game — getting a kill — and they did an excellent job.

"Excellent job." 

Nugent-Hopkins said the Oilers all spoke to Nurse during the intermission, which helped calm any worry.

"He's a tough customer," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I think he probably (downplays it) a little more than he's feeling."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2024. 

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