Sports

Transition game — three vignettes from Darnell Nurse's "quiet" road trip – Edmonton Journal

Published

3 years ago

October 26, 2021

Harry Miller

Author of the article:

Bruce McCurdy • Edmonton Journal

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse always seems to be under the microscope, and that trend has continued into the 2021-22 season in the wake of the big defender signing an 8-year, $74-million extension over the summer. A ferocious competitor gifted with size, speed, and skill, Nurse has always had his share of critics. Nowadays he is frequently referenced as “our $9 million d-man”, often with a tinge of disdain in the voice of the speaker or the context of the writer. Never mind the fact that for one more season before that extension kicks in, Nurse has a cap hit of $5.6 million and appears highly likely to deliver excellent value yet again.

As he has for the last four seasons at least, in which he has:

played every game
led the team in total ice time and average even-strength ice time in each season
led the blueline in even-strength goals, assists, and points every season. Indeed, Nurse’s lowest output of the four — 26 even strength points in 2017-18 — was higher than any other Oiler D over the entire span, that being Tyson Barrie’s 25 EVP last season. No other rearguard even hit 20.
ranked in the top 8 of NHL blueliners in even-strength minutes, goals and points over the four years combined.
carried a cap hit of $0.863 million, $3.2 million, $3.2 million, and $5.6 million. A strong case can be made that he comfortably covered the bet in all four of those seasons.

But that was then; this is now. What has he done for the Oilers lately?

By the boxcars it’s been a quiet enough start, with 5 GP, 0-3-3, +4 to this point. Dig a little deeper, and we find a workhorse who leads the entire NHL in Time On Ice per game and (by a wider margin) in Hits . This on an Oilers team that is down several of their most physical players from last season including Adam Larsson , Jujhar Khaira and Josh Archibald . In their absence Nurse has come out banging, landing 8 hits in three different games and 4 each in the other two. Through all of that ice time and all of those battles, he has taken just one minor penalty through five games.

To these eyes the 26-year-old continues to improve at some of the more subtle aspects of the game. Cases in point, the following three sequences in which Nurse played a critical role in an important Oilers goal. All three from the recent road trip in which he officially got zero (0) points. Just don’t say he didn’t contribute to the offence, and specifically to Edmonton’s increasingly deadly transition game. All this while himself making a challenging transition to a new partner !

As we did in last week’s popular post micro-analyzing a superb goal by Jesse Puljujarvi , let’s “roll back the tape” and engage the screen grab function. In each case we will focus on the change of possession that preceded the goal — which is to say much earlier in the sequence than the typical highlight reel will show. But what happens at that moment, and in the ~second that follows, often sets the stage for the good stuff that happens later. To wit:

Goal #1: Shorthanded game winner at Arizona

Darnell Nurse (circled) is at the point of attack, where the Coyotes shooter has whiffed on his shot and gone down to the ice. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collects the loose puck in the low slot while Zach Hyman looks on from the top of the circle.

As RNH turns with the puck, Hyman puts it into gear and heads up-ice. Behind him Nurse negotiates the traffic.

Nuge retreats toward the corner with three Arizona players fixated on the puck. A fourth has just regained his footing on the weak side. Seeing the chance, Nurse joins the lane fifteen feet behind behind Hyman.

Now out of frame, Nugent-Hopkins has beaten all four Coyotes with a gorgeous soft dump off the wall and into the path of the streaking Hyman. Nurse surges up the middle to make it a 2-on-1.

Seeing the danger, the remaining Arizona defender steps towards the middle of the ice to defend the pass opening a lane for Hyman to take the puck directly to the net.

…and cashes with a fine shot from inside the faceoff dot. Nurse never touches the puck from first to last, but his recognition of the opportunity and his plus skating have aided Hyman greatly. Officially, though, the scoring play is Hyman from Nugent-Hopkins, and a well-deserved point for each. Nurse? +1 and thanks for coming.

Goal #2: Game-tying goal at Vegas

One of the responsibilities that comes with playing a lot with Connor McDavid and company is scenes like this. The Golden Knights’ top (healthy) line counterattacks 3-on-2 with the Oilers forwards all chasing the play. Nurse and his new partner Evan Bouchard gap up and play their angles as the Vegans hit the blueline.

Suddenly the gap closes as Nurse stops up, extends and attacks the puck, chipping it off the stick of William Karlsson.

The puck springs to the left, where Bouchard alertly gets a touch on it as well to tip it beyond the line of attackers…

…where McDavid pounces on it and makes the turn with numbers on his side. Oil fans will recognize this frame as the money shot…

…even as it takes another few seconds for the sequence to play out. Once again it’s Hyman with the finishing nail after a short but intense pressure where Oilers buzzed the net and Knights played chase. By now Nurse is an interested bystander out at the point, his damage already done a dozen seconds earlier and 140 feet away.

Goal #3: Go-ahead goal at Vegas

Just over a minute after the start of the prior sequence, the Nurse-Bouchard duo is still on the ice, having played an effective shift with the Derek Ryan line in between times, in which Nurse generated a decent shot. Now the Leon Draisaitl line has taken to the ice, has exerted some pressure but the puck has gone the other way. Both Nuge and Drai are in decent position and moving their feet, so there’s no odd-man aspect to this rush.

Bouchard is beaten by a pass into the middle of the ice, but Nurse gaps up and reads the play…

… assumes the “ready” position…

…and again extends to get stick-on-puck.

As Nurse retreats right out of the frame, the puck bounces off a couple of bodies in the neutral zone before being collected by Draisaitl…

…who spins the other way in full possession, a breaking Kailer Yamamoto providing a target for the lead pass.

Fast forward again to the finishing nail, delivered by a kneeling Draisaitl some 20 seconds after the initial change of possession, but with the Oilers again in the ascendant the entire time. By this time Nurse has made the change after a superb 77-second shift and is sitting on the bench while his replacement, Kris Russell, contributes to the eventual scoring play. Not so much as a plus for Darnell on this one, even as his well-timed “defensive stick” has freed the puck to skilled mates for a second straight goal.

___

Three important goals over two games, with Nurse making key contributions to each. Just two touches, both at full stretch on his own side of centre, and a third great decision made from deep in his own territory to join the attack even as he ultimately played the role of decoy. Three subtle plays, three happy endings, with more than a little help from his friends. It is, after all, a team game.

It’s my observation that Nurse does a lot of this sort of thing over the course of a game, and has learned/is learning to pick his spots better by the year. With his superb athleticism, he wins puck battles in a variety of ways: by simply winning a race to it, by overpowering an opponent, or through judicious use of his long reach. And while not featured in these sequences, he’s increasingly dangerous with the puck on his own blade.

Yes he still makes the wrong decision at times. There was that one play in the Calgary game where he got pulled behind the goal line and was beaten by a centring pass that was quickly deposited. Heard plenty about that one, but it remains the only powerplay goal scored on his watch in 17 shorthanded minutes. Meanwhile, in just 6 minutes he’s been on the PP, that unit has scored 4 times.

In all situations — which in his case means literally ALL situations with a heaping helping of crunch time — Darnell has been on the ice for 12 goals scored by the Oilers, just 5 against.

Best of all, I’ve yet to see a sign that he’s reached his ceiling just yet. Now an impact player in his seventh NHL season, Nurse continues to upgrade the fine details of his considerable game.

Recently at the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Is Nurse-Bouchard the top pairing of Oil fans’ dreams?

LEAVINS: Together the Oilers can win — 9 Things

McCURDY: Oilers score a pulsating win in Sin City

STAPLES: Nurse dominates, Oilers flatten Coyotes

Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

19 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

19 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

19 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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