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The Edmonton Oilers earned a tight 3-2 victory over the lowly San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at SAP Center — but they may have lost the Hart Trophy frontrunner in the process. Leon Draisaitl recorded an assist in the contest before leaving the game in the second period.
“No, I don't [have an update]. I haven't seen our training staff yet,” Oilers bench boss Kris Knoblauch said afterwards, per NHL.com's Max Miller. “You never want to miss those guys. You never want your top players not to play because every time they're not in, it decreases your chances of winning because they are good players. What happens is other guys have some opportunities to play, get some confidence, hopefully score some goals, because we're going to need them.”
Draisaitl suffered an undisclosed injury in March that caused him to miss four games. He returned for the Battle of Alberta and scored his 50th and 51st goals of the season — including the overtime winner — in a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
Thursday's tilt against the Sharks was Draisaitl's third game back from the undisclosed ailment, and it's unclear whether he will miss the rest of the road trip.
It goes without saying that Edmonton badly needs both of its two superstar forwards healthy ahead of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs — especially as the Oil are the defending Western Conference champions.
Connor McDavid hasn't played since March 20; he missed his sixth straight game on Thursday night. He's not expected to return for the remainder of the road trip, which also passes through Los Angeles on Saturday and Anaheim on Monday.
“Obviously, we’ve had some injuries to key guys. It’s a lot of opportunity for other guys to step up, and I think guys have done a good job so far,” said forward Jeff Skinner, who scored a goal and added an assist on Thursday. “We're going to have to continue that and keep working together to get the results we want.”
Oilers battling for playoff positioning in Pacific Division
With the Vegas Golden Knights losing on Thursday, the Oilers are now just five points back of the Pacific Division-leaders. But the Los Angeles Kings also won — a 4-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club — and are two points up on Edmonton.
The most likely scenario is that the Kings and Oilers will meet in the first round of the postseason for the fourth consecutive time. Edmonton has won back-to-back-to-back Round 1's against Los Angeles, including a tidy five-game triumph in the 2024 playoffs.
Despite the untimely injuries to McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers have won three consecutive games, and will look to continue stringing victories together with seven games left in the regular-season.
“Sometimes when guys go down other guys got to step up. With playoffs coming up, it's good for guys to get some extra minutes and some reps,” forward Connor Brown said, per Miller. “Who knows, maybe it's a good thing as long as those guys are OK, which I'm sure they are.”
The Oilers' next game is huge; Edmonton and LA will link up for the final time at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night as both teams look to secure home-ice advantage in the opening round.
The hope for the Oil is that Draisaitl will be able to play in that contest.
