Ryan Reaves was ejected from the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Edmonton Oilers game on Saturday night.
The 37-year-old enforcer threw an ugly shoulder check to the head of Oilers defender Darnell Nurse and was assessed a five-minute match penalty.
Reaves threw the hit with 17:19 remaining in the second period and just 28 seconds after Connor McDavid scored to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead. The enforcer had played just 3:54 of ice time before being ejected.
Nurse was bloodied by the head contact and stumbled to his feet. He immediately went back to the Oilers’ locker room with assistance from Mattias Janmark and the team’s trainer.
Edmonton quickly ruled the 29-year-old defender out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.
Darnell Nurse (upper body) will not return for the #Oilers tonight.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 17, 2024
Nurse, playing on the left side of the Oilers’ second pairing, skated 7:45 of ice time before the hit. He averages the third most ice time per game for Edmonton (21:36) and has nine points (2g, 7a) in 18 games this season.
Reaves was playing in his 16th game of the year with the Maple Leafs. He has one assist, 13 penalty minutes, and 44 hits.
The rugged winger has been suspended four previous times in his career. His most recent suspension came during the 2021 postseason, when, as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Reaves sat out two games for roughing Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves.
Reaves’s longest suspension was his first, which occurred in 2016 while he was a member of the St. Louis Blues. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety suspended him three games for boarding Matt Tennyson of the San Jose Sharks.
Update (11/17): Reaves will have a hearing today to determine how many games he will be suspended. Since it’s not an in-person hearing, his suspension can only be a maximum of five games.
Toronto’s Ryan Reaves will have a hearing today for an illegal check to the head against Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 17, 2024
