Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday night for cross-checking Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield.
He'll miss the Oilers' regular-season finale at San Jose on Wednesday night but will be eligible to return to Edmonton's lineup for Game 1 of its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Kings.
Nurse had been suspended three times and fined once in his 716-game NHL career.
The incident occurred at 14:36 of the second period of the Kings' 5-0 win in Edmonton on Monday, with Los Angeles on a 5-on-3 power play and leading by four goals. Nurse and Byfield battled near the crease as the puck was frozen by Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard. Nurse brought Byfield down with a headlock and then shoved Byfield's head to the ice with a cross-check to the back of his helmet.
Byfield left the game and didn't return. He also missed the Kings' game against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Nurse received a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct.
In its ruling, NHL Player Safety said Nurse was in control of his stick and "makes the decision to deliver an intentional cross-check that makes head contact with a player lying on the ice."
The NHL ruled that the cross-check was delivered with enough force to earn supplemental discipline but agreed with Nurse's counterargument that the cross-check was not delivered with "exceptional force" on Byfield.
"It is only because of that fact that this incident is not met with much more harsh discipline," the ruling said.
The ruling is similar to one made in 2023 against Andrew Mangiapane, then of the Calgary Flames, who cross-checked Seattle's Jared McCann while the Kraken forward was flat on the ice. Mangiapane also received a one-game suspension after a match penalty in the game, with NHL Player Safety citing the force of the cross-check in its ruling.
The Oilers and Kings will meet in the first round for the fourth straight postseason. Edmonton won the three previous series, in seven games in 2022, six in 2023 and five games in the 2024 playoffs.
Edmonton will not have defenseman Mattias Ekholm for the upcoming series against Los Angeles, underscoring how critical it was for the Oilers that Nurse not miss any postseason time.