An Edmonton Oilers game with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl absent is a rare occurrence. So rare that it hadn’t happened ever since McDavid joined the Oilers in the 2015-16 season.
Until Saturday, which saw both McDavid and Draisaitl sidelined with injuries as the Oilers beat the Seattle Kraken 5-4.
On Thursday, a cross-check to the midsection by Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey late into the second period of the Oilers’ 4-3 loss ruled McDavid out of the third period and overtime. Meanwhile, Draisaitl managed over 22 minutes of ice time against Utah on Tuesday despite having sustained a lower-body injury thanks to a collision with defenceman Olli Määttä. The injury, however, became a concern for the staff the following day, prompting them to rule him out of Thursday’s game and more. And now, going by what head coach Kris Knoblauch had to say about the status of the two, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be back soon.
The Oilers head coach dropped the bad news after Monday’s practice session. When asked about updates on McDavid’s and Draisaitl’s situation, Knoblauch couldn’t give much hope. “Connor, not. Leon’s still, he’s not day to day yet, so they’re going to be still a while,” said Knoblauch. “So we will be playing a couple games without them at least, so it’s good for those other guys that they know that they’re going to get some more playing time,” he added.
This is a developing story…
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