Leon Draisaitl quickly praised one of his teammates after the Edmonton Oilers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Leon Draisaitl quickly praised one of his teammates after the Edmonton Oilers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
EDMONTON -- "He's such a horse."
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Regular people may hear this phrase and think the person is talking about an actual horse, but hockey fans know exactly what this means. It implies incredible stamina, strength, and speed.
All three are attributes that Edmonton Oilers defender Darnell Nurse possesses.
Nurse had a big game against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. Although he didn't record any points in his 23:15 of ice time, he made two great plays that led to both of the Oilers' goals.
His teammate, Leon Draisaitl, spoke to the media after the win and heavily complimented his fellow Oiler.
"He's been really, really, really good... high-end," Draisaitl explained. "You guys are really hard on him sometimes. He's been amazing."
Draisaitl then went into further detail about what exactly Nurse does right and why the defender has been so effective this season.
"You can't beat him off the rush," Draisaitl revealed. "Obviously, when he makes plays like that (where he) settles the puck down and makes strong plays, it's fun to watch."
"Maybe our best D for a while now...you guys should talk about him more."
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Nurse hasn't had the burden of covering for Cody Ceci this season. Much of the conversation over the summer was about finding a defender to play with Nurse. Kris Knoblauch said as much during Training Camp.
He also said that the Oilers need to play their six best defenders every game and find the best fit for Nurse. In some situations, that's Troy Stecher; in others, it's Brett Kulak.
Nurse's physicality, endurance, and skating put him in a great position to make great plays night in and night out.
Talk about a horse.
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