Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl won’t be returning for the Edmonton Oilers this week, coach Kris Knoblauch said Monday.
Neither forward played in Edmonton’s 5-4 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. McDavid sustained a lower-body injury during the second period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on March 20, and Draisaitl sustained an undisclosed injury during a 7-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on March 18.
“They’re going to be still a while,” Knoblauch said. “We’ll be playing a couple of games without them, at least.”
The Oilers host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, SN1, TNT, truTV, MAX) before visiting the Kraken on Thursday. Edmonton will then host the Calgary Flames on March 29.
Draisaitl and McDavid are the second- and fourth-leading scorers in the NHL this season. Draisaitl has 101 points (49 goals, 52 assists) in 68 games; McDavid has 90 points (26 goals, 64 assists) in 63 games. Draisaitl had an 18-game point streak (27 points; 14 goals, 13 assists) end in the win against Utah, where he led all forwards with 22:23 of ice time.
McDavid extended his point streak to 13 games (19 points; four goals, 15 assists) with an assist on a goal by forward Jeff Skinner at 5:30 of the second period against the Jets. It is uncertain when exactly McDavid was injured; he had six shifts in the second period against Winnipeg, with his final shift lasting 18 seconds before returning to the bench at 19:03. McDavid spoke with Oilers head athletic therapist T.D. Forss on the bench before the end of the period and did not return for the third.
The Edmonton captain previously missed three games this season because of an ankle injury sustained during a 6-1 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28. McDavid missed another three games when he was suspended for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland during a 3-2 loss at Vancouver on Jan. 18.
Draisaitl missed his first game of the season against Winnipeg.
The Oilers (41-24-5) are tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings, five points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights.
“This little break without having those two, maybe that helps other guys find their game and they’re able to step it up,” Knoblauch said, “Hopefully they can build a little confidence.”
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