EDMONTON— Connor McDavid didn’t play the final 4:20 of the third period and remained on the Edmonton Oilers’ bench for overtime in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place.
The forward appeared to reach left during a rush across the ice and skated to the bench, where he remained for the rest of the game.
McDavid had two assists in the loss. He has eight points (two goals, six assists) in five games for Edmonton (1-3-1).
“I didn’t go back there [locker room] “But I’m sure we’ll have something tomorrow,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It seemed like nothing, it seemed like it was muscular more than anything to me as I watched during the play. We will see. I will have more information [Sunday].”
Before 3-on-3 overtime, McDavid entered the ice and did an easy skate. However, he remained on the bench throughout extra time.
Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele won at 3:53.
“I think we realized it, that’s probably the understatement of the century,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said when asked about McDavid’s absence in overtime. “I don’t know what’s going on there, but in 3-on-3 overtime you look for him, so we noticed, yeah.”
McDavid played 20:48 and had one shot on goal before going to the bench. He was defeated by Morrissey during a race down the ice toward the Winnipeg net at 12:33 of the first period. Morrissey was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for holding out on the play.
“No, I thought it was more like him climbing up the ice [in third period] and something felt off to him,” Woodcroft said. “This is what it looked like from the bench. But I haven’t even looked at it again.”