3) Darnell Nurse
There were a few contenders from the blue line to be our third stud of the game, including Evan Bouchard and Codi Ceci. In the end however, we went for Darnell Nurse.
Nurse had been under a lot of pressure following a poor start to this season, with him in many ways representing the porous and mistake-ridden play of the defenceman. More is expected of you when you’re a previous seventh overall draft pick, who’s making $74 million guaranteed over eight seasons.
Fortunately for everyone concerned, the 28-year-old has been playing better of late. This includes arguably his best performance of the 2023-24 season to date, in his previous game versus the Ducks.
There was more of the same against the Golden Knights, albeit minus the offensive production from the Anaheim game. However, Nurse was solid as a rock in defence, as he allowed no goals at even strength and finished the night with a +1 plus/minus rating.
The Hamilton, Ontario native looked as composed and confident as he has done at any time this season. He also played a pivotal role on a penalty kill unit, which held the visitors to a 0-for-5 on the night with the man advantage.
There’s still clearly work to be done after the team allowed four goals, including two inside the final nine minutes of the third period. However, the overall defensive game does seem to be improving, with Nurse as the fulcrum point of this gradual progression.
After the game, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about the team’s penalty kill specifically and the defensive play in general. Speaking to the media, he said:
"“I just find the best teams typically have good penalty kills. They can kill and they defend really well five-on-five. Right now, the last three games, I (think) we’ve done a pretty good job of that and we have to continue doing that.”"
Overall, with the win the Oilers improved to 8-12-1 on the season and climbed to within five points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Next up they will travel to Winnipeg, to play the Jets on Thursday night.