DALLAS — Stars forward Roope Hintz left the ice without putting any weight on his left leg after Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse slashed him on top of his left skate in the third period of the Oilers’ 3-0 Game 2 win in the the Western Conference finals Friday night.
Hintz went down to the ice in front of the Edmonton net and immediately reached toward his foot. Nurse was given a minor penalty for slashing after officials reviewed for a potential major penalty.
An athletic trainer came out to check on Hintz, who stayed down for a couple of minutes before being helped off the ice. He didn’t put his left foot down while teammates Mikael Granlund and Lian Bichsel guided him to the bench. Hintz then went down the tunnel toward the locker room.
Speaking after the game, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer didn’t have an update on Hintz but offered his thoughts on the slash when he was asked.
“I’ll answer your question with a question: Does anyone in this room think if Connor McDavid gets carried off the ice like that, that it’s not a five-minute major?” he said. “That’s my answer to your question.”
Stars forward Mason Marchment said he felt there “was some intent, obviously” in Nurse’s actions.
“He’s one of our best players and now he’s done for the game, right?” Marchment said. “I don’t really want to tell them what they should do or what they should have called, but that’s one of our best players, and I don’t think it was enough.”
When asked about Marchment’s contention, DeBoer repeated a similar response to his first one.
“Again, you know, if that’s 97 (McDavid) carried off the ice in the same situation, I think we all know the answer to what that looks like for us,” he said.
Edmonton’s win tied the series at 1. Game 3 is Sunday in Edmonton.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
