Ryan Reaves goes out of his way to apologize after high hit on Darnell Nurse
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Ryan Reaves went out of his way to apologize to Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse last night after he caught him with a high hit.
Reaves was ejected early in the second period last night after he made a hit on veteran oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse. After a short review, Reaves was escorted back to the locker room where he spent the rest of the night.
Technically, whenever a player gets a game misconduct penalty, they are not supposed to leave their locker room. However, it sounds like Reaves broke this rule last night based on a report from Elliotte Friedman.
The insider revealed that Reaves actually headed towards the Oilers locker room in an effort to apologize to Nurse, who missed the rest of the contest. It is not clear exactly what happened, but it seems as though an apology was made.
While Reaves is known for his physicality and rough play style, he does have a reputation for being a good guy off the ice, so it is not surprising that he would make such an effort. Unfortunately for him, that will not help him when it comes to supplementary discipline.
The Department of Player Safety handed Reaves a suspension of five games this morning, citing head contact and carelessness from the Leafs veteran.
In the modern era, a five-game suspension is pretty hefty. There is a chance this will be the longest one we see this year. Many Oilers fans are not satisfied with the result though as they felt it should have been longer.
With any luck, this will be the last suspension of Reaves' career. The fact that we have to say that though is a testament to the kind of player he is. He got lucky again in that Nurse was not more seriously injured, but clearly he needs to be taught the same lesson over and over again.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Martin Necas | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Aliaksei Protas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Jones | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary L'Heureux | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexis Lafrenière | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Neighbours | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Elias Pettersson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Aatu Raty | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Steven Stamkos | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jakub Vrana | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Erik Brannstrom | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Will Cuylle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 18 | 15 | 3 | - | 30 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Wild | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 25 | |
Panthers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Hurricanes | 16 | 12 | 4 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 24 | |
Maple Leafs | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
Capitals | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 23 | |
Kings | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 23 | |
Stars | 16 | 11 | 5 | - | 22 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||