Darnell Nurse Suspended for One Game
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has been suspended for one game by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety following an incident with Quinton Byfield of the Los Angeles Kings.
Nurse will miss the Oilers’ final regular season game against San Jose, but will be available for the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Kings.
This is the fourth disciplinary incident for Nurse in his NHL career, having been suspended three times and fined once in 716 games.
The incident occurred during Monday’s game, with the Kings winning 5-0. Nurse took down Byfield with a block and then pushed his head into the ice with a cross-check.
Byfield had to leave the game and also missed the Kings’ next game.
In its ruling, the NHL Player Safety stated that Nurse controlled his stick and “makes the decision to deliver an intentional cross-check that makes contact with the head of a player who is on the ice.”
NHL Player Safety Department
The NHL determined that the cross-check was strong enough to warrant a penalty, but agreed with Nurse’s argument that it was not delivered with “exceptional force”.
The Oilers and Kings will face off in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive time. Edmonton won the previous three series.
In addition to Nurse’s suspension, the Oilers will also be without Mattias Ekholm for the series against Los Angeles.
