At the end of last night’s game, Darnell Nurse took it upon himself to right a perceived wrong and made his best attempt to try and punch a hole clean through Roman Polak’s face. Apparently the NHL didn’t appreciate his fist kisses.
For me, one of the most interesting thing about this “fight” is the reaction that followed. Like it? Hate it? Some of OilersNation feel that Darnell Nurse was defending his teammate and that this type of aggression has be sorely missed around these parts for a very long time. Others look at the fight and see a guy that got jumped and dummied when he probably didn’t deserve it. Unfortunately, ol’ Darryl probably didn’t see the replay of Matt Hendricks catching an edge before crashing into the boards, and Roman Polak’s face paid the price.
To me, seeing that Nurse will face a hearing for the fight Polak beatdown wasn’t really all that much of a surprise. Where things get interesting is the coming suspension. Max Domi was suspended for a game after channelling his old man for a similar type of reaction fight a week ago. While Domi only got one game for jumping to Ekman-Larsson’s defense, his fight was a more of a bang bang type of play as compared to Nurse. Darnell tried to cave Polak’s face in minutes after Matt Hendricks went crashing into the boards. I guess my point is that Nurse had some time to think about it.
Will the NHL care more about a pre-meditated beat down than a heat of the moment type of scrap? I guess we’ll see.

THE REACTION

THE INSTIGATOR RULE

WHERE DOES BAGGEDMILK STAND?

Personally, I love the kind of balls and leadership that Darnell Nurse showed with this fight. He is one of the few Oilers that never needs an invitation to jump into a melee. If there’s a fight breaking out, and he’s on the ice, you know Darryl is jumping in. He will stand up for his teammates without anyone telling him to do it, and that’s the type of play that we haven’t seen around here in a long time.
Although I understand that Polak probably (likely) didn’t deserve last night’s face punchery that doesn’t make me like the fight any less. For years we’ve been complaining that the Oilers don’t defend themselves, and I’m not about to complain when someone finally jumps in to take care of business. What can I say? I’m a fan of street justice. Frankly, the Oilers need more players like Nurse. They need more guys that are willing to pay the price for the team. They need more guys that aren’t okay with flybys and stick checks.
Darnell Nurse is one of those guys, and I don’t care if he gets suspended for beating up an opponent that really wanted no part of him. For too long that type of physicality went the other way and I, for one, am happy to see an Oiler on the giving end for once.