Oilers, Golden Knights to adjust without top defensemen in Game 5

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights will each be without a key defenseman when they face off in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS), but don't expect much else to change.

Darnell Nurse of the Oilers and Alex Pietrangelo of the Golden Knights were each suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday for separate incidents toward the end of Game 4 at Rogers Place on Wednesday, won 4-1 by Edmonton. The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2.

Nurse was suspended under rule 46.21, for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of regulation against Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague at 19:10 of the third period. By rule 46.21: A player who instigates a fight in the final five minutes of a game will receive an automatic one-game suspension. Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft was also fined $10,000.

"I don't think we should be without him, but if that is the case then someone else will step in and do a great job," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said Thursday before Nurse's suspension was announced. "That's why we have depth, that's why we have guys stepping up and taking on those roles."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Oilers series coverage]

Nurse played an Oilers-high 23:07 in Game 4. He had an assist on Edmonton's fourth goal, scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 14:45 of the second period.

"He was an absolute beast last night," Draisaitl said. "He does a lot of things for us that go unnoticed to maybe the public or the outside. But we value him and he's a huge part of our D-core, our team, and our leadership group."

Pietrangelo was suspended after he was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for a slash on Draisaitl at 18:33 of the third period. Pietrangelo played a game-high 23:54 for the Golden Knights in Game 4. He has six assists in nine playoff games.

"You're never going to be able to replace 'Petro' on the back end," Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel said Friday. "Tough news with him missing a game, but it's where we're at right now. You just have to keep moving forward. Everyone else has to step up in his absence. Our defensemen, I know that they know that they all carry a bigger responsibility with a guy like Petro out, a guy who carries so many minutes and plays in all situations for us."

With Nurse out, defenseman Philip Broberg will return to the Edmonton lineup. Broberg was a healthy scratch in Game 4 but has played in eight playoff games this season, including the first three in this series. Woodcroft has routinely dresses 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Video: Pietrangelo suspended 1 game for slashing will move up to play on the top pair with Cody Ceci in Nurse's absence.

"The good part is that we've played with seven 'D' for a bunch in the playoffs and a long stretch in the regular season so we have guys that can step in and step up," Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said Thursday. "Obviously, that would be a big blow to our D-core, [Nurse] plays a lot of minutes and important roles and that's something we'll have to manage. With that comes opportunity and we have guys that can step in. We don't want to see him not in the lineup, but at the same time, we have guys that can step in."

Ben Hutton will play for the Golden Knights with Pietrangelo out of the lineup. He has played one game in the postseason, Game 5 against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round on April 27 when defensemen Shea Theodore (illness) and Brayden McNabb (upper-body injury) did not play.

"With that, everyone needs to be better, especially against an offensive team like Edmonton," Eichel said. "But we have a ton of confidence in 'Hutty' coming in. He's played great for us all year when he's had the opportunity so we know he'll be ready to play tonight."

Hague will play on the top pair with Alec Martinez.

"I have faith in the guys that are in there," Cassidy said. "The guys that we haven't used have helped as well this year. If that's what we have to do, we will. That's something we'll discuss as a staff today and see if there's a better answer."

Game 4 was the most physical games in the series with 82 hits between the teams (46-36 for Edmonton).

"The physicality is OK, it's playoff hockey, it's what happens each way," Cassidy said. "When a team gets behind, I think they're also under a microscope a little more too, because both teams will get a little frustrated if they don't feel they're getting the calls go their way. The physicality was fine, the clean physicality is fine and the stuff that isn't, should be addressed and should be managed in game by the officials and that's the way I look at it."

Draisaitl said he expects more of the same in Game 5.

"It's our identity of a team, we like the physical side of it and we have a lot of guys that enjoy that part of the game," he said. "We're going to continue doing that."