NHL Player Safety issues ruling on Nurse/Hintz controversy.

There has been a ton of discussion surrounding last night's incident between Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.

Hintz left the game in the third period after he was on the receiving end of a slash from Nurse in front of the Oilers crease, a slash that came as retaliation for a cross-check that Hintz had just delivered to Nurse. Quite frankly it seemed like a run of the mill net front battle that you typically see in the National Hockey League come playoff time, that is of course with the exception of the rather serious looking injury to Hintz.

Here is a replay of the incident:

Nurse was only awarded a two minute minor penalty on the play, something Stars head coach Peter DeBoer was not happy about, and many wondered if the NHL's Department of Player Safety would have anything to say about the matter ahead of Game 3.

Well according to a report from Oilers insider Mark Spector the league has already made up its mind on this matter and Nurse won't even be so much as speaking to anyone from the league's Department of Player Safety. That of course means there will be no suspension forthcoming, and no supplemental discipline of any kind including any potential fines.

While this situation will be extremely frustrating for fans of the Dallas Stars the reality is that this is the kind of exchange we see dozens of times over the course of a normal NHL game, especially during the playoffs, and a two minute minor penalty was likely the appropriate call in this scenario. One thing is certain, the NHL definitely believes that their officials made the correct call on the ice in Game 2.