EDMONTON - Connor McDavid assisted on all four goals as the Edmonton Oilers clinched a playoff berth with a 4-2 victory over the last-place San Jose Sharks on Friday 鈥 but it came at a cost as injuries to key players continue to mount at the worst possible time.
Top-pairing defenceman Mattias Ekholm and forward Zach Hyman left the game with injuries and did not return.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said one of the players might not be ready in time for the start of the playoffs, but added it was too early to make any firm diagnosis.
鈥淵eah, possibly one of those guys," he said. "But without seeing the doctor and getting an update from them to look at it closely 鈥 yeah, we'll wait and see."
鈥淣o, I won't say which (player)," he added.
This is on top of an already awfully depleted lineup. Edmonton is missing league-leading goal scorer Leon Draisaitl (undisclosed), forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (illness) and defenceman Jake Walman (undisclosed), in addition to Trent Frederic (ankle), Evander Kane (hip, knee) and John Klingberg (lower body).
"We've been very fortunate in the past, not losing guys and now our luck has run out,鈥 Knoblauch said. 鈥淪ome freak accidents and feeling those players were ready to return and it's just unfortunate circumstances where those things can happen.鈥
Veteran forward Corey Perry said it is definitely a trying time for the team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough,鈥 he said. "Teams are all going through it and we鈥檙e going through it right now. It鈥檚 tough to see. Two big holes go down, those guys play a lot of minutes and important roles for our team. But we have guys who aren鈥檛 in the lineup who can step in and contribute and guys who are in the lineup who can maybe do a little bit more. We鈥檒l get through this and move forward.
鈥淚n an ideal world, you want to have everybody playing at their top level, everybody healthy and everybody ready to go. But we have a few more games to figure that out and be ready.鈥
Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak said the only thing the rest of the team can do is be prepared to answer the call.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to see. You want all your guys in the lineup, but lots of our top guys, impactful guys, are coming out,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like this happened the last couple of days, it鈥檚 been a month or so and there are guys who are stepping up and taking on a bigger role. That鈥檚 promising.鈥
The only good news on the injury front was the return of starting goalie Stuart Skinner, although he served as backup to Calvin Pickard, who made 22 stops to collect the win.
Despite the deep concerns on the injury front, the Oilers secured a post-season berth for the sixth straight season, their second-longest stretch since making it 13 years in a row upon entering the NHL in 1979-80.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to do, there are a lot of good teams in the league,鈥 Kulak said. 鈥淚t was an up and down year a lot of the time, just to get there is a good feeling.鈥
Evan Bouchard, Ty Emberson, Perry and Connor Brown scored for the Oilers (46-28-5), who have won two straight and five of their last seven.
Of course, McDavid鈥檚 return has been massive for Edmonton. He has seven assists in two outings since coming back from an eight-game injury absence.
鈥淗e鈥檚 made a huge difference,鈥 Perry said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the best player in the world for a reason. He鈥檚 come in and looked like Connor McDavid and we don鈥檛 expect anything different. That鈥檚 who he is and that鈥檚 how he plays each and every night.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have him back and nice to have him flying like he normally does.鈥
With three games remaining, McDavid is three points shy of hitting 100 on the season for the fifth year in a row and eighth time in his career. Only Wayne Gretzky (15), Mario Lemieux (10) and Marcel Dionne (eight) have had eight seasons with 100 or more points.聽
McDavid also became the third player in NHL history to record seven 70-assist seasons, joining Gretzky (16) and Lemieux (eight).
Adding to the record book, the Oilers captain factored in on Edmonton鈥檚 first goal of the game for the 165th time in his career, passing Gretzky for the most points on opening goals in team history.
This report by 春色直播was first published April 12, 2024.
