EDMONTON – It was each an enormous win and hopefully not too large of a loss for the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Connor McDavid had three assists because the Edmonton Oilers picked up a pair of priceless factors with a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators in a recreation that star ahead Leon Draisaitl left with an undisclosed harm.
Draisaitl took a tough hit early within the first interval from Ozzy Wiesblatt and suffered an harm, coming again for a few shifts earlier than opting to not return for the beginning of the second.
“He didn’t really feel proper, he went off, he obtained checked out and felt like he might play on it,” stated Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “The medical workers checked out him they usually have been comfy with him making an attempt it out. He went out once more and simply didn’t really feel fairly proper.
“The very fact the medical workers stated it doesn’t appear too unhealthy, no quick purple flags, tells me it shouldn’t be a extremely lengthy harm. There is likely to be a while off, however we’ll discover out later.”
Rookie ahead Matthew Savoie, who scored his eleventh of the season, stated it was necessary for everybody to rise to the event with Draisaitl happening.
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“Clearly when it’s a participant like Leon, it’s obtained to be a committee of fellows that step up and fill completely different roles and actually contribute to us having success as a result of it is a large a part of our season and we actually have to rally off some wins and put ourselves in a great place,” Savoie stated.
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“That is an important time of the season. I feel the fireplace in right here is there and is simply persevering with to develop and we’re persevering with to seek out our recreation.”
Draisaitl notched his thirty fifth of the marketing campaign earlier than happening and Zach Hyman additionally scored for the Oilers (33-26-9), who snapped a two-game skid in what has turn out to be a heated combat for playoff positions within the Pacific Division and with wild-card challengers nipping at their heels.
“We’re at some extent within the season the place we don’t have a selection,” stated Hyman, who has 28 objectives in 49 video games this season. “We have now to play effectively. We have now to win video games. We have now to shut video games out. We have now to play robust defensively. We did all these issues — it was group effort from our goalie all the way in which out.”
Edmonton sits third within the Pacific, two factors again of Anaheim in first and one again of Vegas in second. Seattle holds the ultimate playoff spot within the West, sitting simply three factors again of the Oilers.
Connor Ingram recorded 26 saves to earn the win within the Edmonton internet.
“The standard of the begins have been about 75 to 80 per cent the place he’s given us good video games,” Knoblauch stated. “Of all of the video games he’s performed there’s possibly two poor ones. He’s been a extremely good participant for us. We want goaltending like that and he’s been stable. Our group ought to have a whole lot of confidence in him.”
The Oilers have owned the Predators in recent times, with a 16-1-3 document of their final 20 video games towards them. Edmonton is now 25-4-5 when scoring first this season.
McDavid prolonged his factors streak towards Nashville to 18 video games, tying his finest profession run towards a single opponent. Solely Draisaitl has an extended present streak towards a single opponent within the NHL, with factors in 20 straight video games towards Chicago. In 27 profession video games towards Nashville, McDavid now has 51 factors (16G, 35A), whereas Draisaitl has 55 factors (30G, 25A) in 32 video games.
Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who picked up his thirtieth help within the contest, has been an enormous addition since coming over from Nashville on the 2023 commerce deadline. Since that commerce, Ekholm leads all NHL defencemen with a plus-109 ranking.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 16, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
