Why controversial MacKinnon ejection makes sense

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon was in the middle of a controversial ejection late in the second period of the Avs’ clash with the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena.

With less than a minute to go and the Avalanche on the power play, MacKinnon drove the net, barreling over Oilers netminder Connor Ingram.

MacKinnon laid a hard right knee to Ingram’s head, sending him flying into the back of the net. Ingram lay on the ice, evidently shaken up, with blood dripping from a gash in his forehead. Here’s a look at the play:

The replay showed Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse pushing MacKinnon into Ingram. Nurse himself took a pretty tough blow to the head.

The on-ice officials immediately called a five-minute major to review the play. Per NHL rules, only five-minute majors can be reviewed. The overall review process took quite a long time, with the call coming back as a major for goalie interference and a game misconduct.

While Avalanche fans were justifiably furious over the call, there is some logic to the overall call.

First of all, players must make every effort to get out of the goalie’s way. However, that would not have been possible with Nurse in the way. Had Nurse not gotten in the way, MacKinnon could have avoided Ingram.

Secondly, the NHL has to take a stand. The league must drop the hammer on these types of plays, or risk having them become more common. That’s why the situation room in Toronto likely determined that the book had to be thrown at MacKinnon in order to set a precedent for future aggressions.

In other words, if players change into the blue paint, there will be hell to pay. That’s why MacKinnon got the game misconduct.

There's one other dimension to this call. When assessing plays, one of the things to consider is intent. For instance, an accidental high stick is a minor penalty. An intentional one can lead to a misconduct and even a suspension.

In this case, there's a pretty good chance the situation room deemed that MacKinnon intended to make contact with Ingram. The fact that Nurse collided with MacKinnon just made the situation worse. It wouldn't even a surprise if MacKinnon gets a call with the league.

Let's look at this situation from the other side of the coin. If this had been, say, Leon Draisaitl bowling into MacKenzie Blackwood, Colorado fans would have been ready to run Draisaitl, or anybody else for that matter, right out of town.

In the grander scheme of things, the officials made the right call. The aim was to protect goalies. So, MacKinnon was the unfortunate whipping boy in this situation.

As for Ingram, he left the game with Tristan Jarry taking over. There is still no word on Ingram. He’ll likely go through concussion protocol. If he’s all right, he shouldn’t miss any time. If the medical staff finds concussion symptoms, the Oilers could be without their backup goalie for a couple of weeks.