Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

The Edmonton Oilers will be without star center Connor McDavid when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer the past three seasons and among the top two scorers over the past seven, suffered an upper-body injury in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday and is expected to miss one to two weeks.

McDavid, who has two goals and a team-leading six assists this season, grabbed his left side as he crossed the Winnipeg blue line during a rush with just under five minutes left in regulation. He left the game following the shift and did not return, though he was on the bench for the overtime session.

The Oilers were already off to a disappointing start after reaching the Western Conference finals last season. They opened the season with two straight losses against the Vancouver Canucks, beat the Nashville Predators 6-1, but then dropped their past two games to the Philadelphia Flyers and the Jets.

“It’s very frustrating, of course,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said following the latest loss. “Our plan was to get off to a good start and we haven’t been able to find that.

“We’re just too up and down, not consistent enough right now. It feels like every mistake we make ends up in the back of our net. We have lots of things to fix.”

Even more odd for the talent-laden Oilers is they’re the only team in the NHL that hasn’t scored a third-period goal this season.

“I can’t explain that oddity,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s a small sample size, but it is what it is. I haven’t studied why that is.”

The Wild are also looking to snap a two-game skid after falling to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime on Saturday.

Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson was peppered with 54 shots against the Blue Jackets and came away with a career-high 49 saves.

“We’ve got to clean a lot of our hockey up,” Wild coach Dean Evason said.

Evason said one area that needs attention is the Wild’s composure and execution when trying to get the puck out of their own zone, something that was particularly lacking against Columbus.

“It was like we’re all in panic mode for whatever reason, which makes no sense,” Evason said. “We’ve got to do some work. We’ve got to tighten some stuff up, for sure.”

Minnesota will have to forge on without forward Matt Boldy, who suffered an upper-body injury in a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 14 and is week-to-week.

Boldy exploded for 31 goals in 81 games last season after scoring 15 in 47 games during his rookie season of 2021-22.

The Wild are also without their best defenseman, veteran Jared Spurgeon, who suffered an upper-body injury during a preseason game and also remains week-to-week.

Minnesota also recently placed defenseman Alex Goligoski on long-term injured reserve, prompting the Wild to recall defenseman Dakota Mermis from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League.

Mermis made his NHL debut for the Arizona Coyotes in 2017, but has played in just 30 NHL games over the past seven seasons.

–Field Level Media