Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse played entire post-season with torn hip flexor

Nobody is ever going to question Darnell Nurse’s toughness again.

After the Edmonton Oilers were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals Monday night, Nurse revealed he played the entire post-season with a torn hip flexor.

“I tore my hip flexor, so dealt with that for three series,” he said. “Everyone is banged up this time of year. our medical staff, T.D. (Forss), taped it up and gave me some anti-inflamms and you go.

“There’s no excuse when you get to this point of the season you want to be on your game and play at a certain level. there’s no excuse. Everyone is banged up this time of the year.

“Myself first, I wanted to be better in this series and it just adds motivation for the summer to come back and to be that difference maker next year.”

It was reported early in the playoffs by DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli that Nurse suffered a core-muscle injury that may require offseason surgery.

Nurse was injured in the second period of an April 22 game against the Colorado Avalanche and missed the final four games of the Oilers’ regular season. But game one, Nurse was ready to go.

He dressed in all 14 of the Oilers’ playoff games scoring two goals and six points while still averaging over 20 minutes per night — a drop of five minutes off his regular-season average.