Oilers cut Nurse's ice time big time in Game 1 loss to Panthers
It was another playoff game to forget for Edmonton Oilers defencemen Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci.
After being separated midway through the Western Conference Final for poor play together, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch opted to reunite the pair for the start of the Stanley Cup Final, which had predictable results.
Edmonton dominated the bulk of the game, but it was two defensive errors by that pair that wound up being the difference. Both Nurse and Ceci were on the ice for each of Florida’s first two goals of the game, including Carter Verhaeghe’s game-winner in the first period.
That brings the Nurse-Ceci pairs’ goal-share to a brutal 4-12 ratio at five-on-five in these playoffs, by far the worst of any other defensive combination on the team.
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It appears the poor play was once again recognized by Knoblauch, as he scaled back both players’ ice times. So much so that Nurse wound up having the least amount of ice time of all Oilers defencemen in Game 1 with just 16:09.Ā
He was surpassed by the upstart Philip Broberg (17:55) and his partner Ceci (17:19). Nurse had nearly a minute less time on the ice than the next fewest in Brett Kulak (17:06). Now, special teams will cut into that time, but we haven’t quite seen this kind of reduction in a little bit for Nurse.
It doesn’t set a new low for the 29-year-old defenceman in these playoffs as he got just 16 minutes in Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks, but it is quite a drop-off from his last few games.
In Games 5 and 6 against the Dallas Stars, Nurse was on the ice for over 20 minutes each and played a critical role in fending off a relentless forecheck. This sounds and looks like a message is being sent from Knoblauch that he needs to see more from his longest-tenured defenceman.
The steep drop-off should also signal that the Nurse-Ceci pairing does not work. The Oilers had much better results when Kulak was promoted up to the second pair while Ceci played down the lineup next to Broberg. There could even be an argument to scratch Ceci in favour of Vincent Desharnais, who also had better results next to Nurse.
One thing is for certain, Edmonton needs to get more out of Nurse if they want to win the Stanley Cup. After some struggles to start against Dallas, he was able to prove the doubters wrong and turn his play around.
Nothing says he can’t do it again.
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