On Thursday Darnell Nurse received an automatic one game suspension for instigating a fight in the final minute of the Edmonton Oilers’ series-tying Game 4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights. A few hours later, the NHL handed Alex Pietrangelo a one-game suspension for slashing Leon Draisaitl — the first suspension of his 15-year career.
Both teams will be without their No. 1 defencemen in a critical Game 5 on Friday at T-Mobile Arena. The Oilers at least have experience playing without Nurse in a pivotal playoff game. He missed Game 6 against the Los Angeles Kings last season after he head-butted Phillip Danault and earned a one-game suspension. In that game, Brett Kulak took Nurse’s place on the top pair next to Cody Ceci, and Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft could go back to that combination Friday. (Ceci and Kulak played together for around 120 minutes during the regular season.)
The Oilers will miss Nurse, but the Golden Knights rely on Pietrangelo in more situations. Pietrangelo is averaging a team-high 24:37 of ice time per game in the playoffs — four more minutes than his next-closest teammate (Shea Theodore). He is one of five defencemen who have appeared in the playoffs to average at least three minutes on the power play and two minutes on the penalty kill per game, along with Brent Burns, Adam Fox, Cale Makar and Jared Spurgeon.
Theodore will likely absorb Pietrangelo’s minutes on the power play, which is 2-for-15 in the series. Ben Hutton and rookie Brayden Pachal are Vegas’ depth defenders. Neither has played since April 27.
As one half of the Golden Knights’ shutdown pair, Pietrangelo has been tasked with shadowing Connor McDavid at 5-on-5. Through four games, Pietrangelo has done a solid job of neutralizing McDavid when they have been on the ice at the same time. The Oilers, who scored three 5-on-5 goals in their 4-1 win Wednesday, will look to take advantage there.
As for who will fill in for Pietrangelo alongside partner Alec Martinez on Friday, Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy has a couple of options. When Pietrangelo missed nine November and December games to tend to a family matter, Martinez played with Nic Hague (72:52) and Zach Whitecloud (67:20). The Golden Knights allowed two 5-on-5 goals with Martinez and Whitecloud on the ice over that span but controlled just 40.9 per cent of expected goals. Martinez and Hague, by comparison, were on the ice for four goals against but had a 52.4 xGF%.
The reality is that no one can replace Pietrangelo’s contributions from the back end. In what has become a best-of-three series, Pietrangelo’s absence will be magnified.
All stats via Sportlogiq
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