The Edmonton Oilers take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, but they could be without their captain and star player Connor McDavid.
McDavid suffered what was originally diagnosed as a bruise in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Oilers head coach Dave Tippett spoke to the media following the game and said that the injury was "nothing serious."
He briefly skated with the Oilers' power play group on Monday, but did not take part in the full practice, and left early to receive treatment. He told the media after practice that the injury was best described as a charley horse, and that it is unrelated to the injury he suffered last season that took him the entire off-season to recover from.
We will find out sometime tomorrow morning if he'll be good to go against the Blackhawks.
"It's a little sore and swollen, so I just took an extra day here and we'll see how it feels tomorrow," McDavid said. "Nothing that was hurt before hurts now, so that's good news I guess."
McDavid currently sits second in league in scoring with 30 goals and 81 points in 55 games.
In other Oilers news, it also sounds like James Neal isn't likely to play on Tuesday against the Blackhawks.
It was reported on Sunday that Neal was getting close to making his return to the lineup after missing six games with a foot injury, but according to TSN's Ryan Rishaug, Neal's recovery isn't going as quickly as hoped and there is no timetable for his return yet. He posted this to his twitter on Monday:
"Neal isn't getting better as fast as they'd hoped according to Tippett. Said it's an injury that can easily be re-hurt, and that Neal is frustrated with it. Not sure when he will return."
Before he went down with injury, Neal had 19 goals and 29 points in 50 games this season. He's been solid offensively for the Oilers this season—especially on the power play, he sits tied for second in the league for power play goals with 12.
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