NHL fines Nurse for late hit on Burroughs in Canucks-Oilers opener

The first supplementary discipline of the 2022-23 NHL regular season has been handed out.

Darnell Nurse has been effectively slapped on the wrist by the NHL, fined $5,000 for a late hit on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kyle Burroughs. Nurse was given a two-minute penalty for interference on the play.

The hit came at the end of the first period of the Canucks-Oilers season-opening game in Edmonton.

It might be Game 1 but Darnell Nurse's sore loser mentality is in midseason form already. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/Wwl58P8DPG

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) October 13, 2022

It was a big moment in the game, with the Canucks already up 2-0. Vancouver scored on the ensuing power play to take a commanding 3-0 lead early in the second period.

The Oilers tied the game up before the second period was finished, with Nurse scoring the game-tying goal. They went on to win 5-3, with Connor McDavid scoring his second and third goals of the game in the third period.

The $5,000 fine is the maximum allowable under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA, with the money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

The hit wasn’t the most talked about infraction of the game, however. That honour goes to Evander Kane’s high stick on Quinn Hughes.

How do you know hockey is really back?

When the refs miss a high-sticking call (Kane on Hughes) like this that draws blood. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/0FrIc0H20O

— Grady Sas (@GradySas) October 13, 2022

The play went undetected by all four officials on the ice, despite the high stick drawing blood. It should have been a four-minute penalty for Kane. Instead, the Oilers scored on the play while Hughes was still reeling.

Despite that, Canucks players weren’t making excuses post-game. They did have eight power plays in the game already, after all.

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