The Edmonton Oilers won their second game in three tries tonight, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 4-2. Without doubt this was a big win for Edmonton, but the Oil may have suffered a big loss within their victory.
Connor McDavid, who had 12 points in 12 games coming into the tilt and won the NHL’s rookie of the month for October, suffered what appears to be a serious shoulder injury in the second period of the victory.
McDavid went rushing into the offensive zone before losing an edge and falling into the corner with two Flyer defenders on top of him. McDavid ended up running into the boards hard and held his shoulder while in obvious pain. McDavid remained on the bench the rest of the period, but did not return to the game and was seen wearing a sling.
Todd McLellan updated the media after the game, saying that McDavid was still meeting with the medical team at Rexall Place and that he had an upper body injury. McLellan also added that he would be out “long term” and mentioned that “he’ll be out for a while.”
My Thoughts:
I’m not going to sugar coat it, this is a crushing blow for the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid was the reason for hope, McDavid was the man we tuned in to watch, McDavid was the best player on this team through 12 games this season. To see him go down like that and to hear he’ll miss a lot of time, it’s just gut wrenching.
The Oilers are a much worse team than they were three hours ago and it’s undeniable. Edmonton’s best player will be on the shelf and as a result, the results will suffer.
It sucks for McDavid too, because he was playing so well. The kid adapted to the NHL and was simply dominating the league before this injury. It likely takes him out of the Calder Trophy race too, which is really unfortunate.
It’s bad for the Oilers, it’s bad for McDavid, and it’s bad for the NHL. There is just no other way to slice it right now.
Oil Country is down in the dumps tonight and rightfully so. The ray of light, the player picked to help turn this franchise north, will be out of service for an extended period of time. Tough moments indeed in Oil Country.
I’ll update this as soon as more comes out. I’d expect to hear from Peter Chiarelli within the next 24 hours with an official announcement.
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