Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid will make his return to the lineup against the San Jose Sharks.
McDavid missed three straight games with a lower-body injury that he suffered on April 6 against the Calgary Flames.
“This was not let’s sit out games just to sit out games (situation), obviously there was something there bugging me and I was sitting out to feel better,” McDavid told reporters. “This was not a ‘if this was playoffs’ or whatever. This was bugging me and I needed to get it right.”
Head coach Kris Knoblauch said that Evander Kane will come out of the lineup for a maintenance day. If it was the playoffs, Knoblauch said Kane would be in the lineup and wants to give him time to heal.
McDavid is third in the league in points with 130 and leads the NHL with 99 assists. If he notches an assist against the Sharks, he could be the first player to record 100 helpers in a season since Wayne Wayne Gretzky in 1990-91 when he led the league with 122 assists. Nikita Kucherov, who has 98 assists, could also hit the century mark when the Lightning host the Sabres Monday night.
Edmonton hosts San Jose with puck drop at 9:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet.