Oilers may not be able to overcome injuries to Nurse, Draisaitl

CALGARY, Alberta — Oh what it would be like to inject some truth serum into Oilers GM Ken Holland to get a grasp on the actual severity of Edmonton’s injuries.

To ask the questions whose answers are kept under lock and key this time of year. It would help explain so much sometimes, but it’s shrouded in the secrecy of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The mystique of what these modern-day gladiators are willing to play through adds to the lore of why Lord Stanley’s chalice is the hardest to win.

Only the tough survive.

Those questions looms large for the Oilers as they try to claw back to level ground in the Battle of Alberta on Friday night in Game 2 at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Just how injured are Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse?

So much attention has been focused on Draisaitl and his high-ankle sprain that the status of Nurse has been largely overlooked.

It’s entirely possible Nurse is the more banged up of the two, as he battles what sources indicate is a core-muscle injury that might require offseason surgery to repair.

Two of Edmonton’s three best players aren’t anywhere close to 100 percent.

The eye test will tell you that. Draisaitl, moved out of the middle and to Connor McDavid’s wing, has labored while skating, particularly when turning, though it is less pronounced now than it was in Game 7 against Los Angeles. Draisaitl limped into and out of the Game 1 postgame press conference in Calgary.

Nurse failed to register a hit in Game 1 and appeared to be more tentative than usual, especially in and around his own net, where his physical presence is usually felt most. How could you expect him to be anything but if that is indeed the injury? Everything a player does – from skating, to leverage, to shooting, is generated and stabilized through the core.

If the eye test didn’t tell you enough, just look at the ice time.

Nurse averaged 25:03 in ice time this season. How reliable is he as a minute muncher? Last postseason, he famously and rather effortlessly played 62 minutes in a triple-overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. In Game 1 Wednesday night? He played just 18:08, his fewest minutes of the entire season save the April 22 game against Colorado (10:03) that he left early with an injury – the same one that caused him to miss the final four games of the regular season.

So Wednesday night was his lowest time on ice in a full game this season. It was also well down from the 21:33 that he averaged in the first round, raising some question as to whether he re-injured himself in Game 1.

Their injuries have forced coach Jay Woodcroft to make significant adjustments.

Both players have been removed from one of their special teams units. Nurse didn’t skate a single second on the power play, where he averaged 1:09 per game this season. Just the same, Draisaitl didn’t play one second shorthanded, a unit where he averaged 57 seconds this season.

“I think, first of all, they’re giving us great minutes,” Woodcroft said Thursday. “I think you want people to play to their strengths. We’ve done some things specifically with Leon where we’ve moved him around the lineup a little bit and he’s still played big minutes for us. He’s still making big plays, still has an impact on the game.

“He’s just a warrior.”

Draisaitl still managed to score and post a three-point night. Those 22 minutes of Draisaitl, even at 75 percent, are better than 90 percent of the rest of the NHL.

It wasn’t quite as pretty for Nurse, who was a minus-3, and now has his longest point drought of the season.

That these guys are even out there is amazing.

“In terms of Darnell, he is someone that has a champion’s mindset,” Woodcroft said. “He’s somebody that refuses to be deterred. While he might not feel at his 100 percent mark, he’s going to give you everything he has and he makes us a better team.”

The timing of it all is really kind of rotten, and not just for the Oilers. With a rivalry, you want to see a heavyweight tilt at full-strength, to put best-on-best to see who prevails.

But the Oilers aren’t making any excuses. This is the playoffs. This is for keeps. There is one of these stories every year. And no one feels sorry for you.

“The bottom line is, not good enough for us,” Woodcroft said of Game 1. “Our checking skills, our defending and fundamentals really have to improve. For us, I just think we have to get back to defending properly.”

Woodcroft said there were things that “showed up in our game that we hadn’t seen in a few months.”

Edmonton has responded well. The last time they allowed nine goals against Calgary in March, the Oilers reeled off six straight wins. They were not to be denied against the Kings in Games 6 and 7.

The problem is, the Flames are not the Kings.

The Oilers can park their poor start, the bad goals from Mike Smith, and clean up their defensive zone play. But overcoming these injuries, to these impactful players in particular, will be difficult to overcome.

We’re going to find out a lot about the Oilers in Game 2. And some of the faces in the lineup may be different.

“We don’t play until 8:30,” Woodcroft said Thursday. “So we’ll see.”

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Oilers may not be able to overcome injuries to Nurse, Draisaitl

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