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 — 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.
“Yeah, possibly one of those guys,” he said. “But without seeing the doctor and getting an update from them to look at it closely … yeah, we’ll wait and see.
“No, 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,” Knoblauch said. “Some freak accidents and feeling those players were ready to return and it’s just unfortunate circumstances where those things can happen.”
Veteran forward Corey Perry said it is definitely a trying time for the team.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Teams are all going through it and we’re going through it right now. It’s 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’t 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’ll get through this and move forward.
“In 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.”
Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak said the only thing the rest of the team can do is be prepared to answer the call.
“It’s tough to see. You want all your guys in the lineup, but lots of our top guys, impactful guys, are coming out,” he said. “It’s not like this happened the last couple of days, it’s been a month or so and there are guys who are stepping up and taking on a bigger role. That’s promising.”
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.
“It’s not easy to do. There are a lot of good teams in the league,” Kulak said. “It was an up and down year a lot of the time. Just to get there is a good feeling.”
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’s return has been massive for Edmonton. He has seven assists in two outings since coming back from an eight-game injury absence.
“He’s made a huge difference,” Perry said. “He’s the best player in the world for a reason. He’s come in and looked like Connor McDavid and we don’t expect anything different. That’s who he is and that’s how he plays each and every night.
“It’s nice to have him back and nice to have him flying like he normally does.”
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.
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’s first goal of the game for the 165th time in his career, passing Gretzky for the most points on opening goals in team history.
