Lucic lucky skate didn’t lacerate jugular vein
LAS VEGAS Edmonton Oilers winger Milan Lucic got very lucky when Tomas Nosek’s skate blade nicked him on the right side of his throat Saturday night after an innocuouslooking play as the big guy got on his horse and broke up a pass in the neutral zone, but paid a nasty price for it.
“Close call, but OK,” tweeted the stitched up Lucic, with the hashtag, #skategrazedjugular as somebody took a photo of the damage to his throat. It looked like he had seven or eight stitches.
“Dangerous cut in the neck area, got him in a scary spot and we were all concerned before he got it taped up ... that said, we still had to watch him during the game,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan.
Lucic only played 12:23, tying his season-low against Ottawa in early October.
Before he was hurt, he had trouble handling the puck and took a hooking penalty, but full marks for coming back to play six minutes in the third period.
We all remember goalie Clint Malarchuk almost dying when he took a skate to his jugular playing for Buffalo Sabres.
NUGENT-HOPKINS INJURED
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins only played 10 minutes, leaving 131/2 minutes into the second after Brayden McNabb nailed him with a solid, clean check that rattled RNH’s shoulder right by the Oilers bench.
At first blush, it looked like a shoulder separation, possibly, but McLellan eased concerns after the game.
“He’s still being evaluated but we think he’ll be OK,” said the coach.
The bye week helps: they don’t play again until Saturday night when the Vancouver Canucks are at Rogers Place.
Zack Kassian laid a licking on McNabb seconds after the hit on Nugent-Hopkins, clean or not, doing what a protector is supposed to do. But he had to go to the dressing room to get his left hand knuckles looked at before returning. One of his most effective games of the year, moving up the lineup to play 12 minutes. He had three shots and was very good on the penalty-kill.
SOLID PENALTY KILLING
Ah yes, the PK. They killed off all six of Vegas’ power plays and were 14-for-15 in the five road games with the only one they gave up in Nashville. They’re now third (86.6 per cent) overall on the road behind Toronto (86.7) and L.A. (88.1) while 31st at home at 55.4.
“I have no idea (disparity). I really wish I had the answer. Lots of times it’s the breaks. Look at our home PK and sometimes it’s just a shot from up top that hits somebody and lands perfectly on a guy’s stick,” said Connor McDavid.
BIRTHDAY SERENADE
The orange-jerseyed Oilers fans in the seats at T-Mobile Arena serenaded McDavid with a brief Happy Birthday to You at 9:07 of the first period but it was so loud in there, McDavid said he didn’t know.
“I only heard about it through the first period intermission. Pretty cool,” McDavid said.
“Incredible atmosphere in the building.”
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant is a hockey fan too, but had his fill of McDavid.
“He’s fun to watch as long as you’re not playing against him,” said Gallant.
McDavid was matched against Vegas’ D-man Nate Schmidt for much of the night.
“Nate’s one of the few guys who can maybe skate with Connor. I thought he did an outstanding job,” Gallant said.
McDavid, who now has 52 points on the year, was all over the stats sheet on his birthday: 4:13 on the PK, 3:27 on the PP, four shots, the most faceoffs of anybody in the game (21, where he went 9-12).
He was on for the two Vegas goals, but none directly his fault.