Some Further Thoughts on Roope Hintz, Darnell Nurse, and No Supplemental Discipline

And a final thought about the new defense pairings

Apologies for another post so soon after the Game 2 coverage, but I wanted to add one more update after a few of us in the media spoke with Pete DeBoer today.

• Earlier today, we learned that the Department of Player Safety will not be pursuing supplemental discipline for Darnell Nurse after his slash on Roope Hintz that took Hintz out for the remainder of Game 3. We learned this through the NHL’s favorite way of disseminating information they know won’t make people happy: leaking it to a few select outlets.

• Next, we learned that Roope Hintz may or may not travel to Edmonton, and that he may or may not play. Here are some quotes from Pete DeBoer after a few of us spoke with him before the Stars boarded their plane today:

  • Media: Did sleeping on the play give you a different perspective on the play?

    • DeBoer: “I see exactly what I saw last night, and I stand by exactly what I said last night.”¹

  • Media: Is there any update on Hintz’s availability for Game 3?

    • DeBoer: “No. Just getting tests this morning.”

  • Media: Is Roope Hintz traveling with the team to Edmonton?

    • DeBoer: “I don’t know. We’re waiting on those test results.”

  • Media: Given the short turnaround with a day game tomorrow, is there even the possibility of him playing at all?

    • DeBoer: “Honestly, I don’t know until we get these test results.”

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So, there you have it. The Stars aren’t saying anything about Hintz’s availability for tomorrow, which means we won’t know if he’s playing until warmups before tomorrow’s afternoon start.

As for why the NHL chose not to pursue even a fine against Nurse for hitting Hintz with his stick in a vulnerable area hard enough to take him out of a playoff game, here’s the word that made its way to the Dallas Morning News:

Yes, the slash was “typical,” and the minor penalty was seen as sufficient, just as the on-ice officials deemed after their review of the penalty as well.

One thing that I come back to with this call is the Alex Petrovic goal against Winnipeg, where the on-ice officials were adamant that the goal should count, and thus we got a protracted review and fairly convoluted explanation of the puck being “propelled” into the net by Connor Hellebuyck.

The NHL puts great stock in what on-ice officials see in cases like this, and they are loath to contradict them unless they have information the officials missed in the moment. And in this case, the official was standing right there the entire time, and his arm went up immediately after Nurse’s slash, calling a major penalty that was downgraded to a minor after the review. So if you needed any further evidence that referees are using major penalty calls as a roundabout way to review any penalty with a potential injury, this was pretty clear proof of it. The official standing five feet away called a major while watching the entire play, then watched some videos and called it a minor. And the Department of Player Safety agreed.

I would think the Stars brought up the fine levied against Jamie Benn for punching Mark Scheifele in any discussion they had, though. Because both plays were clear retaliation in a sort of scrum setting, and both were apparently disproportinate responses. But apparently punching a player in a scrum isn’t a “typical” minor penalty, so it got the extra fine.

What this means, as we saw in the Florida/Tampa Bay series, is that there is almost certain to be payback of some kind. The brotherhood that permeates NHL locker rooms is not easily broken, and the only real way to stand up for a hurt teammate is by seeking vengeance on his behalf, which is to say The Code.

Mason Marchment said as much last night, too.

“A lot of that stuff, you just keep in the back of your mind,” Marchment said, “and if the opportunity presents itself then, you know, you take your chance. But you know, we got a long series here.”

One suspects DeBoer’s team will be very disciplined and calculated in how they approach the idea of exacting such revenge. I do wonder if they might have emphasized not doing so in the dying minutes of Game 2, for fear of losing not only Hintz, but further players to suspensions, as well. But by waiting a game and looking for a chance to lay a big hit on Nurse when the puck is nearby, perhaps Marchment or someone else will get a bit of the catharsis they sound like they’re looking for.

Either way, I think we’re very likely to see some tempers being lost in the near future, in this series. We’ll see how the NHL decides to approach the situation.

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The last thing DeBoer said after Game 2 was also a salient point: The Stars have dealt with missing players this year in multiple regards, whether it was illness sweeping through the locker room, surgeries, facial injuries, or Mark Stone.

When asked about the prospect of playing without Hintz, DeBoer reiterated that his team has handled this sort of thing many times before.

“We’ve dealt with that,” DeBoer said of injured players. “We wouldn’t be sitting here if we weren’t able to deal with that, or prepared to deal with that.”

Indeed, these Stars have found a way in times of trouble to get where they need to go. And they are never going to be more motivated to do so than now, against a team that eliminated them last year and injured one of their players last game.

Playoff hockey is going to be in full swing tomorrow afternoon.

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If you want a guess about Hintz’s availability I’ll just say this: if Hintz were done for the playoffs, I think we would probably have heard that already. This is just a guess, though.

Gamemanship is always present in these situations, but if the Stars had just lost their top center for good after a play like that, you would think they would want it plastered on every billboard an NHL referee might chance to drive by.

Perhaps DeBoer truly has no idea on Hintz’s status, because the tests are complex enough to warrant discretion about making any definitive statement. But I think it’s equally likely that the Stars have a decent idea about his availability, and we’re going to be in the “day to day” situation that we’ve seen with other players in the postseason until warmups start tomorrow.

Also, given the fact that the team was literally about to board the plane when DeBoer said this, I think it’s pretty likely that they do, in fact, know whether Hintz is on that plane or not. But they are not obligated to share that information, and they have chosen not to. C’est la vie.

A Final Word on Defense Pairings

One last thing DeBoer said today was related to why the Stars chose Game 2 to split up Heiskanen and Harley, even though they reunited them in certain situations, and especially later in the game when they were looking for more offense. Here’s what DeBoer said today when asked about that.

"On separate pairings, I mean listen, only one of them can carry the puck up the ice at a time. On separate pairings,” DeBoer said, “it gives you two pair that actually have that element to them. We don't have a lot of transporters in our group back there other than those two guys. When you've got them on different pairs, you've got a transporter on the ice a lot of the night, which is important.”

This all makes sense, too. You split up the puck-movers, and you get more of the transition game going across the defense pairings. It didn’t entirely translate last night, but there were some good elements and increased scoring chance numbers for Dallas compared to Game 1, so I’d expect we continue to see Harley-Heiskanen more situationally than constantly, for now.

But then, why didn’t the Stars have Heiskanen and Lindell together back in Game 4 against Winnipeg, when Heiskanen first returned? My theory was that they were waiting for Heiskanen to get back up to his usual minutes, and DeBoer didn’t disagree with that when asked today.

The question: Was part of the decision to split up Harley and Heiskanen related to Heiskanen being back healthy enough to be the main transporter on his own pairing without Harley?

"That’s a part of it,” DeBoer answered. “Part of it is those two guys together are really good, too. Part of it is situational, when you’re behind in a game, offensive zone starts, the things you’re talking about.”

Game 3 is going to be one fascinating Sunday afternoon tilt. On the one hand, with home-ice advantage, you could say Dallas simply needs to get a split on the road and make it a three-game series after that. But on the other hand, I think you have to get in Stuart Skinner’s head sooner rather than later and get a 3-1 lead at all costs.

As we saw last year, Skinner can be a really sound goaltender when he starts feeling comfortable in a series. And the Stars allowed him to be a bit too comfortable on Friday night.

Somehow, though, I don’t think anyone is likely to be comfortable after Game 3 starts tomorrow.

1. As a refresher, DeBoer said this after Game 2: “Does anyone in this room think if Connor McDavid gets carried off the ice like that, it’s not a five-minute major? That’s my answer your to question.”