The Edmonton Oilers aren’t concerned about the availability of Darnell Nurse heading into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Though Nurse did not participate at all in practice at Rogers Place on Wednesday, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters that the defenceman will be good to go on Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
“We haven’t considered not having him for next game,” the bench boss said. “He’ll be ready to play.”
Nurse appeared to suffer an injury in Game 2 after taking a hit from Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues. He was on and off the bench for the remainder of the game but was limited in the shifts he took, finishing with just 4:20 TOI.
Though Nurse is likely to go on Thursday evening, there is less clarity on the status of Evander Kane. The forward took to the ice on Wednesday ahead of practice, but left shortly thereafter following a conversation with the coach.
When asked if Kane would be available to play Game 3, Knoblauch said, “We haven’t decided yet.”
The 32-year-old suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final but hasn’t been held out of the lineup thus far. He played just over 10 minutes in the 4-1 Game 2 loss.
Knoblauch did say that forward Corey Perry would likely slot back into into the lineup after being scratched, indicating the possibility that Kane will not be available.
The Stanley Cup Final shifts to Edmonton as the Oilers look to pocket their first win of the series on Thursday. Catch all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 8 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. MT.
