• The Edmonton Oilers will play their season without left wing Evander Kane.
• Kane has been panelized for one game.
• The injuring blow was not intentional, says Kane.

The Edmonton Oilers, on the verge of elimination from the NHL playoffs, must salvage their season without left wing Evander Kane, who was suspended for one game by the league on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Canadian superstar, the playoffs’ leading scorer with 13 goals, was penalized for boarding Colorado center Nazem Kadri in Saturday’s third Western Conference final game in Edmonton.

Read more: Colorado Avalanche reach brink of NHL Final by beating Oilers

Kane will miss Monday’s fourth game of the best-of-seven series, which the Avalanche lead 3-0 after Saturday’s 4-2 victory to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

However, Colorado may have to win the championship without Kadri, who has six goals and eight assists in thirteen postseason games.

Kane received a five-minute major penalty 66 seconds into game three for shoving Kadri from behind and knocking him into the boards.

Kadri, who was evaluated by a trainer on the ice for several minutes before being assisted to the locker room, will miss the remainder of the series due to an unexplained ailment.

“He’s out. He’ll be out for the series at least, if not longer,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “The hit, it’s the most dangerous play in hockey. He puts him in headfirst from behind, eight feet from the boards.”

Read more: Game 7 of the 2022 NHL playoffs pits the Edmonton Oilers against the Sacramento Kings.

Kane said the injuring blow was not intentional.

“I was just coming in on the backcheck,” Kane said. “Puck went wide, kind of dribbled into the corner. I know he likes to reverse hit. I was just trying to get a bump on him, that’s really all I did.

“Unfortunately, he went into the boards awkwardly and hurt his hands. But that was unfortunate.”

For the latest Sports News Follow BOL News on Google News. Read more on Latest Sports News on oldsite.bolnews.com