The Edmonton Oilers were without captain Connor McDavid when they hit the ice Monday in Tampa Bay.

McDavid’s absence was likely due to him resting, Oilers TV’s Tony Brar posted on social media, which was later confirmed by head coach Kris Knoblauch after practice.

As a result, the Oilers rolled with some curious lines. Leon Draisaitl centred Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie on the top line, while Zach Hyman was up the middle alongside Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. The third line saw Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centring Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown, while Adam Henrique, Corey Perry and Kasperi Kapanen took up the fourth line.

Edmonton’s blue line saw Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard on the top pairing, Darnell Nurse with Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson rotating, while Brett Kulak and John Klingberg skated.

McDavid struggled over the weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals, as the Oilers were outscored 4-0 at five-on-five when he was on the ice. His poor games come off a big performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off where he scored three goals and five points, including the Golden Goal.

The Oilers are currently in a difficult part of their schedule nearing the midway point of a five-game road trip. After dropping their first two games, the team is set to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the Carolina Hurricanes are Saturday, the ninth, 10th and 11th-ranked teams based on points percentage in the league.

When the team returns to Edmonton in early March, they’ll host the Anaheim Ducks, and Montreal Canadiens leading up to the NHL’s March 7th trade deadline, where the Oilers are likely to be active in hopes of upgrading their group.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.