Has Darnell Nurse found his Mattias Ekholm?<\/p>\n
Evan Bouchard, if you\u2019ll remember, was a skittish youngster struggling to establish himself as a legitimate top pairing defenceman before Ekholm arrived to settle him down late in the 2022-23 season. Once they paired him with the big, steady Swede, the results were dramatic \u2014 he blossomed into a star defenceman.<\/p>\n
His points doubled from 40 to 82 and his plus minus (which used to be an antiquated stat until they started calling it goal differential) went from plus six to plus 34.<\/p>\n
Three years later they are still a pair, with Ekholm and Bouchard one-two on the Oilers at plus 28 and plus 22.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to Edmonton\u2019s second pairing. Since Connor Murphy arrived at the trade deadline and teamed up with a struggling Nurse, they starting to establish a strong identity of their own. The big, heavy duo is exactly what the Oilers are looking for heading into the post-season \u2014 shut down guys who make life difficult for opposition goal scorers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at those two, if I was the opposition I certainly wouldn\u2019t feel comfortable playing against them,\u201d head coach Kris Knoblauch said of the six-foot-four defenders, who check in at a combined weight of 427 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re both physical, both take up a lot of room. Their sticks are good. There\u2019s just not a lot of room to maneuver out there. We like those two against the other team\u2019s top lines and it\u2019s nice that they bring that physicality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Oilers allowed 16 even-strength goals in the last six games and Nurse has only been on the ice for four of them. Even when the Oilers were being roughed up in 4-0 and 5-2 losses to Florida and Tampa Bay, Nurse was only on for one even strength goal against.<\/p>\n
For a guy who is a team-worst minus-18 on the season, this is a marked improvement. And for a team struggling to reduce its goals against it\u2019s a major development at just the right time.<\/p>\n
The Nurse, Jake Walman pairing couldn\u2019t find any traction all year, but this one came together in a hurry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an easy guy to play with because we think similarly and want to be hard defenders,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cHe\u2019s a passionate leader that you can feel his intensity and his drive to win and be good for the team. That\u2019s contagious as a partner to read off of.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really fun to play with him. Just having some games to build that chemistry helps because in the heated parts of the games you want to have that natural instinct to know where a guy is.\u201d<\/p>\n
This comes in concert with the Oilers overall commitment to playing playoff hockey, something they showed just a passing interest in for the first 65 games of the season. A three-game winning streak and outscoring the opposition 13-7 in that span shows improvement everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of the break we made some adjustments in wanting to take away the middle of the ice and I think we\u2019ve just gotten more comfortable playing that system,\u201d explained Nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have all of the offensive firepower in the world. We have one of the best point-scoring defencemen in the league, we have guys in front that can make it happen each and every night, and we need to bring that same attention to detail defensively. That\u2019s something that I can do and help out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s 4-2 win over Anaheim is a perfect example. The first two games against the Ducks this season were wild shootouts, (7-4 Oilers, 6-5 Ducks), but this time Edmonton wasn\u2019t going to be drawn into a track meet. They shut the Ducks out for 50 minutes, built a 3-0 lead and didn\u2019t crack when the visitors scored two quick ones in the third period.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, the last few games we\u2019ve done a pretty good job of that,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cEven going back to the Tampa game\u2026 they got a couple of special teams goals, but five-on-five the last four games we\u2019ve played the right brand of hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even the rookie can tell the difference in what the Oilers are doing right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re pretty comfortable in the defensive zone right now, spending time there, allowing them to stay on the outside,\u201d said Matt Savoie, a better two-way player than you\u2019d expect any 22-year-old to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re playing an intense style right now, closing quick in the D-zone, not giving them easy looks inside. I think it\u2019s just the intensity that we\u2019re playing with right now, and that\u2019s playoff style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
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