After a dominant win over Utah on Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers welcomed the Winnipeg Jets to town for the first time since the horrifying 6-0 loss in the season opener. Unfortunately, the rematch arguably went worse. Not only did the Oilers lose the game 4-3 in overtime, but they also lost Connor McDavid in the second period after the captain left with what the team is calling a lower-body injury. Yikes.

Connor McDavid pulled up and looked to be in some discomfort after his last shift of the second period. And while he stayed on the bench for the remainder of the frame, McDavid would not return for the third period with what the Oilers say is a lower-body injury. I don’t think I need to explain why this is a problem. With Leon Draisaitl already out, losing McDavid basically turns the Oilers into the Buffalo Sabres. While that might be an extreme comparison, what’s objectively true is that this team looks nothing like it did 48 hours ago when both were in the lineup. The difference is a lifetime apart.

Of course, we don’t know what the problem is or if it means he’ll be on the shelf for any length of time, but there’s no replacing Connor McDavid no matter how bad this injury will be. In trying to remain optimistic, I hope the Oilers were playing it safe with their captain instead of the problem being something substantial. We know that McDavid skipped the optional skate on Tuesday morning, which has my tinfoil hat suggesting that he likely wasn’t feeling the best in the first place. But as we wait for an update on what’s happening — Kris Knoblauch only gave the media a “no update” in his post-game presser — all we can do is speculate and hope for the best.

I love the way Jeff Skinner shoots the puck. There are very few instances when Skinner passes up a chance to put pucks on net, and it’s a mentality I wish more of his teammates shared. So, it was no surprise to see him come out firing after being promoted to the first line with a chance to play with Connor McDavid. Even so, I hoped he’d make the best of the opportunity, but I wasn’t expecting him to score as quickly as he did. Skinner popped his 12th goal of the season just past the five-minute mark on a wicked wrister that I’m still not sure Connor Hellebuyck has seen yet.

Not done with his opportunity to play with No. 97 yet, Skinner added a second goal in the third period by getting himself to the crease and being in the right spot when the puck bounced out. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t fancy, but his 13th goal was the product of some hard hat hockey. It was the kind of play that will force Kris Knoblauch to keep him in the top six and finally shed the thought of taking him out of the lineup. Not really knowing what the issue is or why Skinner is the one that seems to be the odd man out, I don’t know how you can keep not playing a guy if he keeps chipping goals in despite limited minutes.

As much as I love seeing two assists beside Darnell Nurse’s name when I look at the boxscore, what the numbers don’t show are the decisions he made that led to goals against. On Josh Morrisey’s goal, Nurse gave the puck up at the offensive blue line and took far too long getting back after the giveaway. Instead of chipping the puck back down low, he tried to move it into the middle of the ice where it was intercepted. The result was an odd-man rush that the Jets executed perfectly, and the entire situation was avoidable with a simpler play at the blue line.

I’m not one of those people who continuously point to Nurse’s contract and complain about it, but I do expect more from him than to make such sloppy choices. Nurse has been fantastic for the Oilers for long stretches this year, but we’ll need him to shake off that game against the Jets and get back to form quickly. Again, the points were great and I always love watching Darryl pick his spots, but we need him to be making better decisions with the puck and also hustling back way harder after the error. Shit happens sometimes and mistakes are part of sports, but what Darryl can always control is his give-a-shit/60 when it comes to covering up the error.

1. I think the Oilers should be proud of grinding out that OT point, to be honest. It was a weird game that started without Draisaitl, and finished without his running mate, so to still grind out a point under the circumstances is a small silver lining worth taking.

2. Calvin Pickard got called into action with only 4:57 left in the third period of a 3-3 tie after the concussion spotter had Stuart Skinner pulled out of the net after a collision in the crease caused him to slowly tumble to the ground. TBH, I thought Skinner was trying to sell goalie interference when it happened, and Louie DeBrusk’s insight on Skinner’s vibe be sour as he walked down the tunnel certainly seemed to confirm my theory. Either way, I felt bad for Pickard for having to jump into this game cold and be expected to lock in the overtime win. That’s a tough spot to be thrown into, and I actually appreciate that our pal Cal was able to grind out the single point.

3. I wish I could be happier about Zach Hyman scoring his third goal in his last two games. I’m too worried about the Dynamic Duo, and I feel bad about it. I love Zach Hyman and he deserves more of my joy. Maybe tomorrow, Zach. Maybe tomorrow.

4. With McDavid and Draisaitl out, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was at a very real risk of Eakins-era flashbacks from when he was last the #1 centre.

5. On the broadcast, Jack and Louie were talking about how Connor Hellebuyck will likely win the Vezina Trophy for consecutive seasons, which will be the first time that’s happened since Martin Brodeur did it two decades ago. All I could think about was, “could you imagine?” *imagines*

6. There are very few constants in life, which is why it’s so important that I keep delivering the information we all care about — faceoff wins. Last night, the Oilers only won 47.1% of the draws against Winnipeg, which is like salt in the wound. It was already a tough night without having to find out that the boys lost that many faceoffs too.

7. I’m not sure how it’s possible that the Oilers only got two power play opportunities while the Jets got four (questionable) chances, but that’s NHL game management for you. Ehlers dives all over the ice and it’s stunning the refs don’t call him for it more often.

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