“Got to be better”: Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman, Darnell Nurse, on their performance in the Stanley Cup Finals

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals came to an end with a win for the Florida Panthers. In the best-of-seven series leading up to the announcement of the Stanley Cup winner, the Florida Panthers now have a 2-1 lead. This comes after the Edmonton Oilers have visibly struggled with their power play, touted to be their strength.

Edmonton Oilers gear up to play better at upcoming games for the Stanley Cup Finals


With the match getting intense between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers, the Oilers believe that they have to become better at certain departments. Game 3 ended with a loss for the Oilers, which gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. While power play has been a strong suit for the Oilers, they struggle at penalty kills. This is what Oilers' team members had to say about their performance in the Stanley Cup Finals, and their plan ahead.

Commenting on the performance of the Oilers, defenseman Darnell Nurse said, “I mean, we put ourselves a little bit too much in the (penalty) box and you have to kill, and it gives obviously their top players more opportunities to go there and touch the puck and play the puck. So yeah, we’ve got to be better in that department.”

At the same time, head coach of Edmonton Oilers, Kris Knoblauch also shared, “I think we certainly need more pucks going into the net, but I think we’ve had some power plays, especially early in games where we had some good looks, we had some good opportunities, and they just didn’t go in. If they go in, maybe they change the game a little bit."

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He also shared, “Thinking about the first one (in Game 3) and I know (defenseman Evan) Bouchard had some good chances; one for sure, if not two. Maybe that changes things a little bit. Thinking about the first power play (in) Game 2 in Edmonton, same thing early. We had some really good looks, and unfortunately you can’t always put them in. I guess where it really caught us was Game 2. We had a bad power play, killed momentum and we gave up a goal against. It’s tough.”