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Oilers player Draisaitl avoids suspension, Panthers player Barkov could play in game three of the Stanley Cup final

Theo

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Leon Draisaitl will play for Edmonton in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night after avoiding a possible suspension, but time will tell what happens with two other key players in the series.

The status of Florida captain Aleksander Barkov is the biggest question after he left the Panthers’ Game 2 following a blow to the head by Draisaitl, who will not face disciplinary action. The Oilers are unsure if top-four defenseman Darnell Nurse will be able to play following his injury on Monday.

“They’re a big part of our team,” coach Kris Knoblauch said of Draisaitl and Nurse on Tuesday. “Big part of the team is quite an understatement if you take either of them out. But whatever happens, we’ll evaluate it and I expect we’ll have the same number of players available as we did for Games 1 and 2.”

Draisaitl, who has failed to score a point so far this series, will be one of them after the league ruled the hit did not warrant additional discipline. The only off-ice penalty assessed in Game 2 was a $2,214 fine – the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement – for Edmonton’s Sam Carrick, who hit Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov with a spear in the third period.

Barkov grabbed his jaw after Draisaitl’s high shot midway through the third period, left the ice and did not return. The Finn, who won the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward and is a candidate for playoff MVP, went to the Panthers’ practice facility and “was no worse,” according to coach Paul Maurice.

“It’s really a good thing,” Maurice said. “The real assessment will be (on Wednesday), but if he continues to make progress, we should be in good shape.”

Maurice said Barkov passed a necessary physical on Tuesday, but did not fully confirm that this meant the 28-year-old had avoided a concussion and the protocol absence that comes with it. He did not want to have anything to do with further discussion about the game itself.

“We’re not concerned with that anymore,” said Maurice. “That includes the mental discipline to leave the game where it is, regardless of the result. For me, it’s over. It’s all over.”

For the Oilers, it remains to be seen whether Nurse will play after he missed most of Game 2 after being hit in the right side by Evan Rodrigues in the first period. Nurse only skated three times the rest of the game.

Knoblauch had not met with medical staff to discuss Nurse before boarding the team’s plane for the flight from South Florida back to Alberta. If Nurse is unable to fly, Edmonton could turn to Cody Ceci after he was left off the roster in Game 2.

AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

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