Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves will have a hearing Sunday with the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head on Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse.
Reaves was assessed a five-minute match penalty for his hit on Nurse during the second period of Saturday’s game, catching him with a shoulder to the head. As a result of Sunday’s hearing, Reaves will almost certainly face a lengthy suspension, as the department will take into account his previous infractions. Reaves has previously been suspended three times, with his most recent infraction taking place in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Nurse was down on the ice for several minutes, before leaving the game with the assistance of teammate Mattias Janmark and a trainer. He was promptly ruled out of the game with an upper-body injury.
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
Here is the play in question, and we don’t necessarily advise watching it:
“The game is fast and I mean just avoiding the hit, we’re professional athletes,” Oilers forward Adam Henrique said post-game. “We’re able to make those decisions quick in our head, and you know when a guy in vulnerable, or in a bad spot, those sorts of things, around the ice. It’s one you don’t want to see.”
Reaves’ teammates came to his defence post-game.
“That’s the side of the game that you never want to see,” Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann said. “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. And sometimes you clip a guy the wrong way.”
Toronto resumes its schedule Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, where Reaves will almost certainly be rendered unavailable.
