Nurse to have hearing for cross-check on Byfield, playoff availability at risk
Published
Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse will have a hearing with the league's department of player safety on Tuesday night for cross-checking Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield.
Nurse received a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct in Monday's 5-0 loss to the Kings after driving his stick down onto the head of Byfield after the two fell to the ice while battling in front of the Oilers net.
The incident happened at the 14:36 mark of the second period and Byfield did not return take another shift afterwards, being ruled out with what the Kings called an upper-body injury.
A suspension of more than one game would force Nurse to miss time in the playoffs, when the Oilers will face the Kings for the fourth straight year. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger believes, however, that any potential suspension will not extend into the postseason.
"Well, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t supplemental discipline applied," Dreger explained on Insider Trading. "Now, do I think this is going to drift into the Stanley Cup playoffs, Gino? No, and that’s a firm no.
"I think, worst-case scenario for Darnell Nurse, maybe best-case scenario for Darnell Nurse with only one game remaining for the Edmonton Oilers, is that he gets a one-game suspension.
"I feel like even though it was borderline ugly, it’s more about the optics of how this play unfolded and how it got to that point. You’re talking about a 4-0 hockey game. The Edmonton Oilers were essentially out of it, I think that’s pretty clear. And you do look forward to a seven-game series in the opening round between the Los Angeles Kings and the Oilers, and you wonder if there’s some form of message sending that could be delivered to the Oilers to the Kings by parking Darnell Nurse for at least one game.
"I’d expect a one-game suspension, but it could be as little as a fine, as well."
The Oilers will already be without defenceman Mattias Ekholm for the entire first round. He has nine goals and 33 points in 76 games this season and ranks third on the team in average ice time at 22:11 per game, behind Evan Bouchard (23:38) and Nurse (22:22).
Nurse, 30, has tallied five goals and 28 assists over 76 games with the Oilers in 2024-25.
The 15 minute penalty minutes to Nurse were among the total of 53 assessed to the Oilers on Monday, while the Kings picked up just 16.
During a second intermission interview, Kings forward Phillip Danault had some strong words for how he perceived the Oilers were handling the late-season game.
“I think they just have their B squad in trying to hurt us,” he said after the Oilers picked up 45 penalty minutes in the frame.
Byfield netted a power-play goal in the first period as the 22-year-old completes another strong year, recording 23 goals and 31 assists over 80 games.
Los Angeles clinched second place in the Pacific Division with Monday's victory, sitting four points ahead of the third-place Oilers, who have just one game left. The Oilers have beaten the Kings in each playoff matchup over the previous three seasons.