LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights can be with out their finest defenseman in Game 5 with their second-round sequence towards the Edmonton Oilers hanging within the stability.
Alex Pietrangelo was suspended for one sport Thursday by the NHL Department of Player Safety for his slash on Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl within the remaining two minutes of the Oilers’ 4-1 victory Wednesday evening that knotted the sequence at 2-2. Game 5 is Friday evening in Las Vegas.
“That was a really, really dangerous slash,” Draisaitl mentioned earlier than the announcement. “I think those are things that have nothing to do with hockey or the game. You can seriously injure someone with a slash like that.”
Oilers captain Connor McDavid mentioned Pietrangelo ought to be suspended. His coach, Jay Woodcroft, agreed: “I would not define it as a hockey play and I’d leave it at that.”
The NHL cited Pietrangelo’s historical past of not having beforehand been fined nor suspended in his 15-year profession, indicating it was a cause he didn’t obtain harsher punishment.
“He’s got no history of suspension or being called on the carpet by the league,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy mentioned. “Petro’s a pretty honest player, I can attest to that. We love the way he plays the game for us.”
The Oilers can be with out defenseman Darnell Nurse, who acquired instigator and misconduct penalties for preventing Nic Hague after Pietrangelo’s slash. Because the instigator penalty occurred within the remaining minute, it carries an computerized one-game suspension, a call upheld by the NHL.
“I was surprised,” Nurse mentioned. “You go through the whole sequence of events, being asked multiple times to fight by him, even multiple times before the puck dropped during the sequence of the play. It is a fight that takes place between two people who I think were willing to fight.”
Woodcroft was fined $10,000.
Tensions have been excessive all through the sequence they usually got here to a boiling level Wednesday. Misconduct penalties had been handed out to Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault and Brett Howden in addition to Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto and Evander Kane. The Knights’ Hague went out for preventing.
Kane, a longtime Knights nemesis courting to his days with the San Jose Sharks, has been on the middle of the unhealthy blood. He took a working begin on the finish of the second interval in Game 3 and cross-checked Pietrangelo; one sport earlier, Kane was assessed a double minor and 10-minute misconduct after repeatedly hitting Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar as he lay on the ice.
The Knights had been the NHL‘s least-penalized team during the regular season, but they haven’t been faultless on this sequence. Pietrangelo acquired a roughing penalty in Game 1.
This sequence has was a best-of-three, and it might be determined by which is the extra disciplined facet.
“The clean physicality is fine,” Cassidy mentioned. “The stuff that isn’t should be addressed and should be managed in game by the officials.”
PANTHERS at MAPLE LEAFS (Florida leads 3-1, 7 p.m., Friday, TNT).
Joseph Woll was a wall for Toronto in Game 4, and now the rookie goaltender — taking on for the injured Ilya Samsonov — will get an opportunity to win one other elimination sport Friday evening when the sequence returns to Toronto. Matt Murray will stay the backup.
“It isn’t a reflection of how we feel about Matt Murray. It is more about how we feel about Joe Woll and his development over the last year,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned.
Toronto has scored two objectives in six consecutive video games regardless of its roster stuffed with stars. The Maple Leafs haven’t had a streak of two objectives or much less in that many video games in a row since November 2011 and haven’t had precisely two objectives (excluding shootout objectives) in six straight video games since December 1956.
That bodes nicely for the notion that Toronto’s offense is because of escape.
Or, it might be argued that Florida’s protection is on level proper now.
“We don’t have to do anything different, just have to keep playing our game,” Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky mentioned. “Be patient. They are a good team. Nobody said it’s going to be easy.”
The Panthers would have most well-liked not getting on a airplane for Toronto, however there isn’t any sense of discouragement — particularly with a 3-1 lead.
“It was so much fun,” Bobrovsky mentioned of Game 4. “The atmosphere was great. Again, I was fortunate to be there, to be on the ice and had a good game, had fun out there, so looking forward to next game.”
Leafs ahead Mitch Marner was requested if he thought some strain would shift again to Florida, after the Panthers missed an opportunity at ending off a sweep — and giving Toronto new life on this sequence.
“Who cares? We’re about ourselves in here,” Marner mentioned. “We’re focusing on ourselves. We’ve got to keep this effort up.”
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