Few players on the Edmonton Oilers have been criticized more this Western Conference Final than defenceman Darnell Nurse. Prior to Wednesday, Nurse had been on the ice for 14 goals against this post-season and, to many, was not playing up to his $9-million salary.
But the 29-year-old responded by delivering a strong performance in Game 4 against the Dallas Stars.
Despite a rough start — deflecting a puck off his rear-end past Stuart Skinner and being on the ice for Wyatt Johnston’s game-opening goal — Nurse finished the game with one assist, 12 hits and three blocked shots, one of which led to the Oilers’ game-winning, short-handed goal in the second period.
He may not have silenced his critics entirely, but he sure did a good job in proving his importance to this Oilers team.
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“I thought Darnell played great,” captain Connor McDavid told Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas after the game. “I thought he got off to an unfair start again, but he’s a battler. I said this morning, he gives us everything he’s got and he did again tonight.
“He was a rock.”
Head coach Kris Knoblauch also had praise for his defenceman following the come-from-behind victory.
“I saw a lot of the good things. The start of his game couldn’t have been more unfortunate for him,” the bench boss said. “That could have really set him back. That would have been really hard for a lot of guys to recover (from), after everything that’s been going on.
“One thing Darnell is, he’s one of the best in the league on covering space with his speed and his reach and then finishing plays because of his strength. You know, those three attributes is what really sets him apart from other defencemen.”
With the help of Nurse, the Oilers tied up the Western Conference Final 2-2 on home ice.
The now best-of-three series moves to Dallas for Game 5 on Friday.
