McDavid logs 21:02 of ice time in return: 'Had a good game'

Connor McDavid's return was not enough to propel the Edmonton Oilers to a win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.

The Oilers lost 4-2 to the Golden Knights, with McDavid finishing as a minus-1 in 21:02 of ice time just over a week after suffering an ankle injury. 

“I thought he was good, he was skating well,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said post-game, per NHL.com. “Usually, he’s putting on three or four points on the scoresheet, but for a guy that practiced, he skated a little bit, but hadn’t got any contact, I thought he fit in and had a good game.”

McDavid was initially given a two-to-three week timeline for recovery last week but resumed skating just three days after the injury and took part in the team's optional skate Monday. 

“It is not like he was out (injured) for a period where he was losing his conditioning,” Knoblauch added when asked about McDavid's ice time. “A little bit longer (out) and it probably drops. We weren’t going to overload it where it was one of those nights where he plays 23, 24, 25 minutes.”

The Oilers went 2-1-0 without McDavid, suffering a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. The team now sits at  6-7-1 on the season after reaching the Stanley Cup Final last spring. 

McDavid has three goals and seven assists in 11 games with the Oilers this season. The 27-year-old forward had 32 goals and 132 points in 76 games last season, having also missed time early in the campaign with a lower-body injury. 

“We always try to work over top of him, there’s no secrets,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If you can minimize his speed through the neutral zone then he’s forced to kick pucks out and then at least you have his winger making the plays as opposed to him backing you off. I thought we tried to do that with [Leon] Draisaitl as well and tonight, we were successful.”

The Richmond Hill, Ont. native has topped the 100-point mark in seven of the past eight seasons, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the league's points leader on five occasions. He is also a three-time Hart Trophy winner, the 2023 Rocket Richard winner and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy this past spring.