Did the officials make the right call on MacKinnon’s ejection?

Nathan MacKinnon found himself on the wrong part of the stats sheet during Tuesday night’s matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and the Edmonton Oilers, as he was ejected from the game after driving to the net for a scoring chance and crashing into Connor Ingram. MacKinnon was given five and a game, and the Oilers wound up winning 4-3.

But was it the right call, or did Darnell Nurse play a larger role in the collision than the officials initially thought? Steve Peters and Tyler Yaremchuk talk about the call and Nurse’s influence on the play on Daily Faceoff Live.

Steve Peters: I think when you see it in fast motion, you see he’s cutting through the crease and he gets a piece of Ingram’s head. But when you slow this thing down, he is going to go above the blue paint. I don’t think he hits Ingram. I think it’s the push of Nurse that, at that pace, pushes him into it.

And I think when you look at his skates, his skates are going east-west. But when he gets the push, his whole body starts moving towards the goaltender. So if his skates are not pushed, I think he goes above the top of the crease. I know it’s incredibly fast-paced. If not for Darnell Nurse, MacKinnon does not hit Ingram. I really, truly believe that.

Now, having said all of those things, when you’re playing at the pace that MacKinnon, McDavid, and those guys play at, it is incredibly difficult to keep players out of the blue paint. I think you have to find a way to protect the goaltenders when the game is played at the speed that it is played at now.

When he gets hit in the head this violently, I am not surprised that the call went this way by the National Hockey League. I don’t see any further suspension. I think this is it, and that he will come back and play. But I do think the league is walking a fine line to the defenseman pushing them in or protecting the goaltender. I think in this instance, he doesn’t hit the goalie unless Nurse pushes him in.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I agree with you on that. I was watching this game live. It was a long review. I think it was right around 10 minutes of them watching this thing, trying to get the call right. You feel for the officials, because I’m sure the last thing they want to do is stand there at center ice and throw Nathan MacKinnon out of a one-goal game at the end of the second period and give that Oilers power play five minutes to work to kick off the third. Again, not an envious spot for the officials to be in at all.

You can watch the full episode here…