Ice hockey is brutal. If you are an avid fan of the sport, you might be aware of the fights that happen on the rink. Indeed, as if the heated battles involving the stick and the puck weren’t enough, the players find their way to sorting problems with their fists. But sometimes these fights turn bloody, as once occurred between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Both of the Canadian NHL teams have a history of rivalry, and the players? At times, their rivalry can be brutal, leading to physical altercations on the rink. And as the two teams will be clashing with each other at Rogers Place tonight, the last time the two met, a brutal clash occurred that took away the breath of the crowd.
So what happened? Do you remember how Oilers’ Darnell Nurse almost got his face disfigured by Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves? If not, then let me remind you. Back on November 16, 2024, during the match between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, the crowd was thrilled to watch the two Canadian teams face each other.
By the second period, the Oilers were leading the game 2-1. With more than seventeen minutes left for the period to be over, when the puck was with the Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse, the Leafs’ right winger Ryan Reaves came like a jet and hit his shoulder on the visor of his opponent. This immediately put down the defenseman on the rink, and the whole crowd was shocked by this move.
The official immediately paused the game upon noticing Nurse lying down on the rink, waiting for someone to pick him up. There was blood on the ice, and everyone was concerned for the Oilers’ defenseman. And what happened afterward? Nurse was sent to the locker room and was sidelined from the team for a few days, as he suffered a minor injury from that brutal hit from Reaves. But what about the Maple Leafs’ right winger? Did he receive any sort of punishment from the officials?
Absolutely! As Reaves made direct contact with the head of the Oilers’ player, which is strictly prohibited in the NHL, he was handed a five-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety. This incident also negatively impacted the Maple Leafs’ ice hockey star’s reputation, as many dubbed him a player who engages with others physically on the ice. But was it the first time that these two got into action against each other?
This wasn’t the first time for the Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman
Since the 2013 NHL draft, Darnell Nurse has been a part of the Edmonton Oilers. But for Ryan Reaves, he has been on a lot of teams. During the 2017-18 season, while serving a single-season stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Reaves shocked the entire NHL community. It was a match between the Oilers and the Penguins, and guess what? Reaves and Nurse were at it!
The rink turned into a boxing ring, as both of them had taken off their gloves. And what else do the fans expect? They cheered down as both of them grabbed each other’s sweaters and started sending out punches. While it looked like Nurse was giving Reaves a tough time, the Penguins’ star took his time, and at the right moment bashed the Oilers’ defenseman with multiple punches that sent his helmet out on the rink.
The crowd was enthralled as they witnessed the intense battle between these two players. However, when it looked like Nurse tried to hit Reaves, it didn’t work out for the Oilers’ player, and he had to give up. The crowd will be anticipating this particular rematch tonight between the Maple Leafs’ star and the Oilers’ defenseman, and if it occurs, the entire rink will be theirs to resolve their differences.
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