Maybe I'm expecting a bit more from our highest paid D-man to not make ECHL level mistakes year after year after year. There's a reason Vegas and Colorado targeted that pairing specifically. He's maybe our 4th best defenseman right now and he's miles behind Bouchard and especially Ekholm.
First of all hockey doesn't occur without mistakes. There will be some, nature of the game. Next, some teams will force more mistakes than others due to their personnel and what schemes they are using. The Kings are no longer a speed team, and they were playing 1-3-1. Nucks are a much different animal and getting to pucks quicker which historically gives us problems. The Nucks also cheat to zone pressure committing mass player resources nearer to puck. Consider it a type of swarm that works, or that they have the right personnel to deploy it. Watch the Nucks and they will often have 3-4 players near to puck when they don't have puck. They do this mostly in opposition zone. Every team in the league has dome degree of difficulty picking this. What you have to do is move the puck out of that zone, but in doing so risk turning it over.
The Nucks create this kind of risk by flooding to puck and giving player with puck few visible options. Its easier said than done beating this, and it requires solid puck support and adjustments to what is occurring, not just by the D. '
To compound last night for whole game the Oilers didn't have Henrique one of the best transition forwards on any team he's on, and played two periods without Draisaitl, who is arguably the best transition forward in the world. Losing BOTH of those players, its a gutpunch combined with how Nucks play.
All that said I don't disagree Nurse is, and will always be miles behind Ekholm and Booch. But in fairness Booch was granted the perfect vet D to learn off. Nurse in his development here had to pretty much figure it out on his own. So that we get Nurse with warts and all.
As others have mentioned the NHL penchant to penalize physical play by D (if only case by case speciously) also limits the physical nature of Nurse. But apparently goons like Zadorov have a free pass forever, wherever they go. Must be a secret hall pass or something...
Why isn't Stecher skating?
News to me. Haven't heard any injury report on him. KK didn't even mention him.