The Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch explained his controversial decision to reunite Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci on the same pair in a press conference. Perhaps no player in Edmonton received as much heat from fans and media in the playoffs as Darnell Nurse. His tough performances made him the Oilers' scapegoat, and unless he bounces back in the Stanley Cup Finals, it'll be hard for him to get back on the fans' good side. For game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, Knoblauch decided to reunite Darnell Nurse with Cody Ceci, after trying out Nurse on a pair with Brett Kulak in game six of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars. Nurse and Ceci weren't good in game one, and Knoblauch was asked to explain his decision by a reporter. He acknowledged they had a rough night but defended his decision by saying he was looking for balance throughout his defensive unit: <q>We look at players involved in scoring chances, for and against. I guess if you look at actual goals scored for and against, it's not favorable. The expected goals for and against doesn't paint the same picture at all, completely different. We're balancing what's best for those two players but also what's best for all six of our defensemen. As a coaching staff, we always have to make those decisions, it's not easy, and sometimes you have to give a little to get something else. As for the matchup next game... we haven't made any decisions yet.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/OilerAlert/status/1799911234151870464'> </a></blockquote></div> It's safe to say that if the Oilers want to win the Stanley Cup, they'll need more from both players in the rest of the seri <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TravisDakin/status/1799665458582639048'> </a></blockquote></div> Do you think Kris Knoblauch made a mistake by reuniting Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci on the same pair in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals? Source: Hockey Feed <a href='https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/knoblauch-defends-decision-to-go-back-to-nurse-and-ceci?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2rk_wqMJgBooaJR8GgFsZLseFN-wJpkwOxrvfM-llKpKoho2obsf0n5Vw_aem_AS9MvT1CWaD5A4u_zv3X3N9OJWpvxbfTRvEgHFJlrOTJj5ITK3j1WJpxksql9fOFlJxMC5LQh9CMwqRyBP3467b-' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Knoblauch defends decision to go back to Nurse and Ceci.</a>