{"id":500475,"date":"2026-03-13T01:14:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/500475\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T01:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:14:33","slug":"wayne-gretzky-questions-nathan-mackinnons-controversial-ejection-after-collision-with-connor-ingram-as-oilers-edge-avalanche-nhl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/500475\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Gretzky questions Nathan MacKinnon\u2019s controversial ejection after collision with Connor Ingram as Oilers edge Avalanche | NHL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WayneWayne Gretzky questions Nathan MacKinnon\u2019s controversial ejection (Getty Images) The moment Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> was sent off the ice quickly became the story of the night as the Colorado Avalanche fell 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. What looked like a routine net drive suddenly turned into one of the most debated calls of the NHL week. MacKinnon collided with Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram, drawing a five minute major and a game misconduct that left Colorado without its most dangerous forward for the final stretch.Within hours, the play had spread across the league\u2019s conversation. Even Wayne Gretzky weighed in, questioning whether the punishment matched the circumstances. The legendary scorer saw a familiar hockey instinct in the play. Attack the crease, chase the puck, and accept the chaos that often follows near the net. That instinct, he suggested, may have been misunderstood in this case.<\/p>\n

Nathan MacKinnon ejection sparks debate about crease collisions<\/p>\n

The sequence unfolded quickly. MacKinnon drove toward the net searching for a rebound chance. As he moved through the slot, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse made contact from behind. The shove redirected MacKinnon\u2019s momentum straight toward Ingram. The Avalanche star slid into the goaltender, who fell awkwardly and later entered concussion protocol.Officials assessed MacKinnon a five minute major and a game misconduct. The call removed him from the game after only 14:17 of ice time, leaving him with one shot on goal and 15 penalty minutes. The Oilers seized the momentum shift and held on for the narrow victory.For Gretzky, the play raised a bigger question about how the league balances safety with the aggressive style it encourages from elite scorers. He explained, \u201cIt\u2019s such a fine line, because we\u2019re taught by the coaches at young age \u2018go to the net\u2019 and lot of kid who get criticized, people say well he doesn\u2019t go to the net, he\u2019s timid, he\u2019s kinda scared to get in that tough area.\u201dPlayers like Connor McDavid and MacKinnon thrive by attacking that dangerous space. Gretzky believes the Avalanche star was simply doing what top forwards are trained to do. In his view, the circumstances around the contact mattered. He added that MacKinnon \u201cgot hit by the defenseman, there is nothing he could really do there, it should have been penalty, but 5 minute penalty for just going to the net and get hit into the goaltender, it seems little unfair.\u201dAvalanche coach Jared Bednar reached a similar conclusion after studying the replay. He focused on the moment Nurse made contact and how it altered the play.Bednar said, \u201cFirst thing I looked at the overhead. He makes the play on the puck, and I got his toes cutting up ice probably through the top of the paint and Ingram\u2019s on the goal line. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a chance, no chance, that he hits the goalie if Nurse doesn\u2019t run into him. He\u2019s not hitting the goalie.\u201dNow the focus turns to the league office. The NHL could still review the collision, though no suspension has been announced. If that holds, MacKinnon may be available when Colorado faces the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.For a play that lasted only seconds, the debate around it may linger much longer.\"Banner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wayne Gretzky questions Nathan MacKinnon\u2019s controversial ejection (Getty Images) The moment Nathan MacKinnon was sent off the ice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5125],"tags":[144,59020,198,146,5300,5,517,4,59019,24,59018,279],"class_list":{"0":"post-500475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-colorado-avalanche","9":"tag-connor-ingram-injury","10":"tag-edmonton","11":"tag-edmonton-oilers","12":"tag-edmontonoilers","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nathan-mackinnon","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-nhl-ejection-controversy","17":"tag-oilers","18":"tag-oilers-vs-avalanche","19":"tag-wayne-gretzky"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116219221383742231","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}