Good Nate, Nurse, what kind of call was that? Quincy Magoo could plainly see that Darnell Nurse knocked Nathan MacKinnon straight into Connor Ingram’s noggin.

So how come NHL referee Kelly Sutherland couldn’t?

“The goalie’s hurt, so it’s five (minutes on the penalty)?” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar groused after Colorado lost MacKinnon to a game misconduct ejection and went on to lose to the Oilers, 4-3, late Tuesday night. “I really don’t give a crap if their goalie’s hurt. That’s on their D-man. Not our guy.”

Darn straight. With 37 seconds left in the second period of Avs-Oilers at Ball Arena, all holy heck broke loose. With Colorado on a power play, MacKinnon took a cross-ice pass from Brock Nelson near the right face-off circle. The Avs center built up his usual head of steam into the crease.

Only about a step before the paint, Nurse, the Oilers’ defenseman, dove and pushed his head and right shoulder into MacKinnon’s left hip.

In a flash, the Avs veteran flew right into a sprawling, helpless Ingram, who recoiled at the contact. The Edmonton goalie collapsed into his own net. He suffered a cut on his forehead and eventually left the game under his own power. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said later that league concussion protocol prevented Ingram from re-entering the game.

A lengthy replay review ensued, one that even included the zebras bringing a small tablet into the penalty box where MacKinnon was seated, waiting to hear his fate. The whole scene became surreal. Only not as surreal as the verdict: A major penalty and a game misconduct for goalie interference.

“Nate’s got some of the best spatial awareness in the league,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar told reporters later. “He’s not going to cut into the goalie like that.”

It’s a 2-minute minor for Nate Dogg and an unfortunate break for Ingram. Because if Nurse doesn’t put his head into MacKinnon’s hip in the first place, MacKinnon doesn’t ding Ingram in the head.

Now let’s make this clear, first and foremost: Head injuries are no laughing matter. Hockey isn’t a contact sport. It’s a collision one. Rules that protect defenseless players should be followed and enforced to the letter of the law.

On the other hand, watch the play again. From any angle.

At game speed. given MacKinnon’s prodigious pace, it looks like one of those nasty, old-school special teams collisions that the NFL has tried to legislate out of its game.

But then watch it slowed down. Watch Nurse, No. 25 in white. Watch MacKinnon’s feet right before the defender makes contact. Then watch his sudden change of direction almost immediately afterward as he goes flying into oblivion.

Then ask yourself two questions:

1. Where was the intent to injure Ingram? MacKinnon doesn’t exactly have a rep of needing to run over goalies to score.

2. Once Nurse has lowered his shoulder and slid into contact, where else was MacKinnon supposed to go? The D-man was on his back. Any backpedaling option was blocked. Thanks to Nurse, the only available path was forward — straight into the goaltender.

“I think Nate makes an effort,” Avs forward Nazem Kadri told reporters after the game. “He’s diving across the top of the crease to try to get out of the way. That’s part of the rule, for the player to at least make some sort of attempt.

“There was clear contact, and I have no idea how that was a 5-minute (major).

“It was a great game up until that (call). I think it was a good battle out there. Players were playing hard and it’s unfortunate that’s how it’s got to end.”

It’s unfortunate that, in a nationally televised game featuring MacKinnon and the Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the officials somehow decided to make it about them.

“(The) explanation we got from the refs was that (Nurse) didn’t nudge him enough into the goalie. (That) he was taking his route there already,” Makar told reporters. “Obviously, there’s a lot of gray area in that.”

Just not enough between the ears.

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