The Edmonton Oilers are preparing to move on without their superstar for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators hope their early struggles are behind them.
With Connor McDavid injured, the visiting Oilers aim to win at Nashville for the second time this month on Thursday night.
Less than a minute into Edmonton’s Monday night contest at Columbus, McDavid exited after sliding hard into the boards with his left skate.
The Oilers went on to lose 6-1, ending a 2-0-1 stretch, but the bigger loss came with McDavid. The star forward will miss the next 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury, the team announced Wednesday.
“It’s tough any time you are playing without your best player,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Obviously, our team is going to look different.”
McDavid’s 10 points are tied with fellow standout Leon Draisaitl for the most on a team that has totaled just 22 goals while sitting 4-5-1 on the young campaign.
The Oilers will need others to step up in McDavid’s absence – after Draisaitl’s six goals, no other skater has more than three. Mattias Ekholm scored Edmonton’s lone goal late in Monday’s lopsided defeat.
“(McDavid’s) our leader and also the best player in the game,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has just four points on the season. “We’ve got to do a better job of stepping up when a guy like that goes down.”
McDavid had a goal and defenseman Brett Kulak posted his only two tallies so far this season during the Oilers’ 4-2 victory at Nashville on Oct. 17.
That marked the fourth loss amid the Predators’ 0-5-0 start, during which they were outscored 23-10. Since then, Nashville is 3-0-1 and has outscored opponents 13-8.
The Predators erased a 2-0 deficit at Tampa Bay on Monday before losing 3-2 in overtime. However, earning a point kept Nashville feeling confident amid its early-season turnaround.
“I thought we were resilient,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we did a good job just trying to stay in the moment. … We wanted two (points) but got one.”
Steven Stamkos recorded a pair of assists in his return to Tampa Bay, where he spent the previous 16 seasons as the face of the Lightning franchise. Those were just the second and third points recorded by Stamkos during a rough start to his Nashville tenure.
“I mean, it takes time,” Stamkos said of transitioning to a new team and city after spending his career in one spot for so long. “Certainly, it’s been an adjustment period.”
Stamkos put four shots on goal against Edmonton earlier this month, but Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault provided the Predators’ scoring in that contest. Forsberg has 13 goals and 12 assists in 26 career games against the Oilers.
Nashville’s Juuse Saros (2.75 goals-against average) made 32 saves in that game. Backup Scott Wedgewood has a 3.54 GAA while splitting his two starts this season, both coming at home.
Edmonton’s Calvin Pickard (2.91 goals-against average) made one of his three starts this season at Nashville, recording 25 saves. Meanwhile, Stuart Skinner (3.51 GAA) has yielded nine goals on 48 shots faced in losing his first two road starts of 2024-25.
Draisaitl has 25 goals and 18 assists in 27 career games against the Predators.