NHL dropped the ball with Golden Knights, Oilers suspensions

These are equal punishments for very unequal offenses.

The Nurse suspension is pretty self-explanatory. If you instigate a fight in the final five minutes of a game, even with a willing participant, it is an automatic suspension for the next game. It could potentially be rescinded, but it will most likely be served.

The issue is the Pietrangelo suspension only being a single game. It deserved far more.

Have a look at the play.

That was a deliberate, two-handed slash and an attempt to injure an opponent. That had nothing to do with preventing a goal, or regaining possession of the puck or trying to prevent a goal. The only objective there was to inflict pain and potentially an injury.

There is no place for that in sports.

The NHL's response to that was a one-game ban. It is insufficient, and laughable when compared to the automatic one-game suspension for Nurse.

The NHL's Department of Player Safety has been consistently under fire during the leadership of its director, George Parros, and this sort of leniency is a big reason why. It makes the league even worse when you consider that Draisaitl is one of the NHL's best players and is in the middle of one of the best individual playoff performances of the modern era. He has been Edmonton's top offensive player and has already scored 13 goals with 18 total points. Both numbers are tops in the NHL this postseason.

Game 5 is set for Friday night at 10 p.m., ET in Vegas. The series is tied at two games apiece after the Oilers' 4-1 Game 2 win.