McDavid left last night's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after his first shift of the game, recording just 37 seconds of ice time. Out of an abundance of caution, the team kept him out for the remainder of the game even though the play did not look that bad at first. Perhaps part of their reasoning was that the team should have easily been able to defeat Columbus even without McDavid, but that was not the case as the Blue Jackets poured on the pressure, earning a 6-1 victory.
After the game, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch revealed that McDavid would be travelling back to Edmonton, cutting his road trip short as the team still has one more game on the trip against the Nashville Predators. With that being said, Oilers reporter Ryan Rishaug revealed last night that the injury is not believed to be too serious, so we will likely see McDavid back on the ice before too long.
Dr. Harjas Grewal, a family doctor based in British Columbia, added his thoughts on the injury based on the camera angles that we have. He seemed to confirm this, saying that it is most likely a mild ankle sprain.
This is great news for the Oilers who have once again, gotten off to a slow start to the season. After last night's loss the team is now 4-5-1, good for just 6th place in the Pacific Division. At one point though the team was at the very bottom of the standings, so they have already rebounded well. Still though, they will have to play more consistently to get back into a playoff spot. With McDavid likely coming back into the lineup before missing too many games, that should not be a problem. As long as everyone is healthy by the time the playoffs role around, this team very well could be the next to appear in back-to-back Stanley Cup finals.