Oilers’ Connor McDavid misses Tuesday practice, as Dylan Holloway recalled from AHL

That sound you heard this morning was the entire Oilers fanbase gasping and holding their breath, as captain Connor McDavid was absent from a Tuesday practice.

There’s been no indication McDavid is dealing with an injury and hasn’t looked out of sorts at all as of late. In fact, he’s been as effective as of late as he has all season.

Shortly before the Oilers hit the ice for practice, the club had announced the recall of forward Dylan Holloway from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. The moves appear to coincide, considering during practice, Holloway was on the Oilers’ third line alongside Ryan McLeod and Corey Perry.

The Oilers’ top line was centred by Leon Draisaitl and flanked by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. The second saw Adam Henrique centre Evander Kane and Warren Foegele. The fourth line saw Sam Carrick and Derek Ryan rotate up the middle, with Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown on the wings.

The defensive pairings remained the same.

As noted by our own Jason Gregor, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said while he’ll coach to win, minutes will be reduced for players in blowouts either way. Any nagging issue for a player, he added, will result in a rest.

The Oilers’ regular season is coming to a frantic end. Between their upcoming game Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, they’ll play six games in nine days that feature two back-to-backs.

The obvious hope here is that McDavid is just dealing with a minor ailment and that his absence from practice and potential absence from Wednesday’s game is nothing more than some maintenance. It goes without saying that if there was anything more significant going on, it would be a major blow to the Oilers’ hope of winning the Pacific Division or doing damage in the post-season.

Holloway, meanwhile, rejoins the Oilers after being sent to the American League days ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. He’s had much success down there, scoring 10 goals and 16 points in 18 games, including a three-goal, four-point performance last Saturday night against the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Wranglers.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.