When Darnell Nurse has a phone hearing with the NHL’s Player Safety department Thursday morning, they will likely tell the Edmonton Oilers rookie defenceman that he should have been handed an instigator penalty for starting the one-sided fight with San Jose Sharks defenceman Roman Polak on Tuesday night.
They will tell him the referees erred with a simple two-minute minor for roughing on top of the fighting major, and because the instigator penalty on the San Jose Sharks’ blueliner came in the final five minutes of a game, it’s an automatic one-game suspension.
In the court of public opinion it’s not as clear cut.