EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid will be back in the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers when they host the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, KONG, KHN), having served his three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Jan. 18.
“Antsy to play, excited to get going,” the Oilers captain said Monday. “It was a long week, just sitting around practicing, I’m ready to get going.”
McDavid was on a four-game point streak (four goals, three assists) prior to his suspension. He has 65 points (20 goals, 45 assists) in 43 games this season.
“He’s a difference-maker, obviously, our leader, but I think the guys did a good job without him,” Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “It’s almost easier when you know it’s only three games and then he’s back, so we can just try and dig it out, whereas if it’s an injury there’s a little uncertainty.”
The Oilers (31-15-3) enter Monday one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights (31-15-4) for first in the Pacific Division. Edmonton has six games remaining before the 4-Nations Face-Off begins Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
“I feel how you go into a break is important,” McDavid said. “We have six games here to play well and put ourselves in a good position heading into the break. Home ice is something that we’ve talked about a lot and we feel is important in the playoffs and being as high as you can in the standings is a good thing for that.”
The Oilers were 2-1-0 without McDavid during his suspension and are 4-2-0 without him this season. He sustained an ankle injury at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28 and missed the next three games.
“You’re missing the best player in the world for a short period of time, but you still want to win games, and obviously we were able to do that,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “You know when he’s coming back, so you just have to hold the fort until he does.”
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said there was less anxiety around the team during the suspension, knowing McDavid would return against Seattle.
“Any time you get your best player back after a stretch, whether it’s one, 10, 15 games without him, and you insert that player back in the lineup, it’s a nice addition to say the least,” Knoblauch said Monday. “But when you add that player, often what happens is (other) players take a step back, ‘Oh, we’ve got our player, we don't have to play as good.’
“Collectively, everyone else takes a step back because you're getting your best player back. It's important that everyone plays at that high level and doesn’t just take for granted that we are getting Connor back.”
Forward Leon Draisaitl led the Oilers during McDavid’s suspension with five points (two goals, three assists) in three games. Nugent-Hopkins had three goals and an assist, and Hyman had two goals and an assist in the win against Vancouver.
“He (Draisaitl) played great, the whole team played great, I don’t think that’s surprising,” McDavid said. “No one loves to talk about how the team plays when I’m not there, but the team plays well. We’re a good team, no matter who is in the lineup.”
Getting near the top of standings is an accomplishment for the Oilers, considering they got off to an 0-3-0 start this season after reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
Edmonton had been playing catch-up all season and enters Monday on an 18-5-1 run.
It’s a bit reminiscent of last season, when the Oilers started the season 3-9-1, but rallied after Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft, finishing second in the Pacific behind the Canucks. Still, they only had home-ice advantage for one round of the playoffs.
“We obviously learned something from last year’s start, although we did not have a great start this year too,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Our mindset has always been to stick with it in games. It’s a long season, so we understand that if we get to first now, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy down the stretch. There’s a long way to go, but we’re happy with the way we’re playing now.
“It’s a good sign of character in this room, a lot of these guys have gone through a lot of stuff. We’re the oldest team in the League, so we’ve experienced a lot, so there is no panic in our game throughout the season.
"It’s a good sign we can stick with it, no matter what is happening around us.”
