An unlikely sight: Connor McDavid not on the ice to start overtime for the Edmonton Oilers.
But that was the case Saturday night, as the captain missed both the final four minutes of regulation as well as overtime play against the Winnipeg Jets.
McDavid appeared to be in discomfort at parts of the game, grabbing at his left hip area after colliding with Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey near the Oilers bench.
While uncharacteristic for the star forward to miss any playing time in a game, his absence from the ice may have just been precautionary, as McDavid remained on the bench until the game concluded.
While the 26-year-old was unavailable to media post-game as he got worked on by training staff, head coach Jay Woodcroft did provide some insight into the potential injury.
“I didn’t walk back there yet but it looked to be more muscular… just to me as I watched during the play,” said Woodcroft. “We’ll see, I’ll have an update tomorrow.”
Five games into the season and the Oilers are 1-4-0. They dropped Saturday’s contest after Mark Scheifele netted the overtime winner for the Jets with just over one minute remaining.