The Edmonton Oilers aren't taking any chances when it comes to the health of one of their star players. Forward Connor McDavid continues to trend in the right direction but isn't expected to play against the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.
"I want to feel at my best and that's not the case tonight," McDavid said following Friday's morning skate. "I never want to miss games, I really don't, it's frustrating. At the end of the day, we're after bigger things here and everyone being healthy is priority No. 1."
McDavid last played on Saturday against the Calgary Flames when he appeared to suffer a lower-body injury in the third period of that contest. The Oilers star tallied two assists in 20:39 of ice time in a 4-2 Edmonton victory.
While he stated that he likely wouldn't play on Friday, McDavid didn't say whether or not he thought that he would play against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
"Yeah, (I'm) extremely confident that it'll turn the corner quick and be ready to go," McDavid added. "We'll see (about Saturday), we've really been taking it a day at a time and we've been making decisions day to day and we'll cross that bridge tomorrow."
The Oilers dominated the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-1 win on Wednesday without McDavid on the ice. McDavid has been a spectacular picture of health as he's only missed three games all season.
McDavid has registered 130 points (31 goals & 99 assists) in 74 games throughout the 2023-24 campaign. Only Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov (141) and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (137) have tallied more points than McDavid this season.
The Oilers are currently in second place in the Pacific Division and trail the Canucks by just four points. As a result, Saturday's contest looms quite large as to which team will earn the division crown and gain some much-needed home-ice advantage when the postseason begins.
