Darnell Nurse did not choose an easy opponent for his first career fight.

Edmonton Oilers young rookie defenseman Darnell Nurse tried to stand up for his teammate last night.

After Lauri Korpikoski was dumped hard into the board by LA Kings' forward Milan Lucic, Nurse engaged the fight with the notorious left-wing.

“We were on the penalty kill. The hit on (Korpikoski), it was clean but I think it was pretty big and I tried to stand up for my teammate,” Nurse said.

It was a heavyweight tussle between Nurse, who stands at 6"4 and 213 pounds, and Lucic, 6"3 tall and 233 pounds.

Nurse held on for sometime, but Lucic eventually came out on top.

Head coach Todd McLellan thinks that it's good for the young man to stand up for one his teammate, no matter who the opponent is:

"Good for him. He's in the NHL. He's standing his ground against a big, tough guy."

The Oilers eventually lost to the LA Kings 5-2, putting an end to their home winning streak.

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