Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse received a one-game suspension Tuesday night for cross-checking Los Angeles Kings center Quinton Byfield.
The 30-year-old will miss the Oilers' final game of the regular season Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks. He'll be eligible to return for Game 1 of the playoffs against the Kings.
The Kings and Oilers faced off on Monday, with Los Angeles holding a 4-0 lead in the second period.
Near the Oilers' net, Nurse wrapped Byfield's upper body and took him to the ice, said the NHL's Department of Player Safety video explanation of the suspension.
"With Byfield on the ice, and after the play has ended, Nurse pulls back his stick and shoves downward onto Byfield, striking him in the head," the video said.
Darnell Nurse was issued a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking Quinton Byfield. pic.twitter.com/J7yFs492ce
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 15, 2025
Nurse received a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct. Byfield left the game and did not return in the Kings' 5-0 win.
NHL Player Safety agreed with the assertion that the cross-check was not delivered with "exceptional force," but it's for that fact the suspension wasn't longer.
Nurse has previously been suspended three times and fined once in his NHL career.
In May 2023, he was suspended one game for for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of regulation time against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague. He received another one-game suspension in May 2022 for head-butting Kings center Phillip Danault, and in March 2016, he was suspended three games for being the aggressor in a fight with Roman Polak of the Sharks.
Nurse will forfeit $48,177.08, which goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. His regular season ends with five goals, 28 assists, 33 points and an average ice time of 22:22 in 76 games played.
Danault reacted to the cross-check and the rough game during the second intermission of Monday's match, when the Oilers were without Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and more.
"I think they just have their B squad in trying to hurt us," he told Patrick O'Neal of FanDuel Sports Network.
Oilers right winger Corey Perry was asked to address those comments post-game.
"What the f---?" Perry told reporters. "Did he not look at what's happened over the last couple weeks? Like, what do you want us to do? We're not out there to hurt anybody."
This year's first-round matchup between the clubs will be the fourth straight year they battle in the playoffs. The Oilers won the previous three series, but the Kings will have home-ice advantage this time.
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