Greg Wyshynskiapr 15, 2025, 11:16pm
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
Edmonton Oilers defensive man Darnell Nurse suspended one game from the NHL player safety department on Tuesday night due to a cross-check for Los Angeles Kings Forward Quinton Byfield.
He misses the Oilers regular season finale in San Jose on Wednesday night, but is eligible to return to Edmonton’s lineup in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Series in the first round with the Kings.
The nurse was suspended three times and was fined once for a 716-game NHL career.
The incident occurred at 14:36 in the second term for the Kings, who won 5-0 at Edmonton on Monday, with Los Angeles leading with four goals on a 5-3 power play. The nurse and Byfield fought near the crease as the puck was frozen by Edmonton goalkeeper Calvin Picard. The nurse knocked Byfield down with a headlock, then thrust Byfield’s head into the ice with a cross check behind the helmet.
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Byfield left the game and did not return. He also missed the Kings game against Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. The nurse was subjected to five minutes of major and game cheating for a cross check.
The safety of the NHL player said the nurse controls his stick and “makes the decision to provide a deliberate cross-check in which the head comes into contact with the player lying on the ice.”
The NHL determined that the crosscheck was delivered with enough force to gain supplemental discipline, but agreed to the nurse’s rebuttal that the crosscheck was not delivered with Byfield’s “exceptional force.”
“This fact is only due to the fact that the case is not met with much more strict discipline,” the ruling said.
The ruling is similar to that made in 2023 against Andrew Mangiapan of the Calgary Flames. Mangiapane received one game interruption after a game match penalty, and the safety of NHL players cited the power of cross-checking in its verdict.
The Oilers and Kings meet in the first round of the fourth straight postseason. Edmonton won three previous series in seven games in 2022, six games in 2023 and five games in 2024.
Edmonton will not have defender Matthias Ekholm for the upcoming series against Los Angeles.
