The Edmonton Oilers are down a winger early in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals as Warren Foegele was ejected for kneeing.
The incident happened just under 10 minutes into the game, when Foegele went to lay a hit on Florida Panthers winger Eetu Luostarinen.
As Foegele went to do so, he stuck his leg out, catching Loustarinen in the upper thigh with his knee. A scrum quickly ensued, as expected, but Foegele was the only player to be penalized, receiving a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct.
It came amid a furious few minutes in which Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse left the game after taking a hit in the Oilers zone by Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues. The latter would find himself shaken up, too, going to lay a hit on Oilers centre Sam Carrick, falling back and hitting his head off the ice.
All three players would return to the game before the end of the first period, but Nurse’s return saw him take a 13 second shift before leaving again.
Foegele’s ejection came after playing just 1:54 of ice time across three shifts. Game 2 marked a return to the lineup for him after being a healthy scratch in Game 1.
An unrestricted free agent after this season, Foegele had a great regular season scoring 20 goals and 41 points in 82 games, but he’s struggled in the playoffs. Appearing in 16 games, he’s scored just one goal and three points, and on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers had been outscored 11-3.
His absence from Game 2 will see the Oilers play the remainder of the game with 11 forwards, meaning the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will likely see increased ice time getting double-shifted.
The Florida Panthers won Game 1 of the Finals 3-0 on Monday night as the Oilers look to answer in Game 2. The series will shift back to Edmonton for Game 3 on Thursday night, and Game 4 on Saturday night.
