Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse knows he has to be better to help his team accomplish its ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
"Sixty-one games, I think I'm a minus-12 and have 20 points. I'm not happy about that at all," Nurse told reporters Tuesday. "With that said, if we're gonna reach the goal that we wanna reach, I gotta step up for sure, and there's a lot of hockey to be played. I think that's the excitement, the opportunity, and that's the accountability. What I owe that to is those guys in the room. That's it, no one else. Showing up here each and every day and giving everything I have for each guy in there and enjoying it."
Nurse's recollection of his season stats was correct. His minus-12 rating is his lowest since his rookie campaign in 2015-16. He's playing 20:52 per game, down from 22:22 last year and the least ice time he's averaged since 2016-17.
The 31-year-old has a $9.25-million cap hit, which ranks second among Edmonton rearguards behind Evan Bouchard.
The Oilers acquired defenseman Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Edmonton is 20th in the NHL with a 29-24-8 record coming off consecutive losses in the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference but are only four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the Pacific Division.
