Oilers' Connor McDavid played through fracture in first-round loss to Ducks

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McDavid was limited to one goal and six points while posting a minus-8 rating during the six-game series loss to the underdog Anaheim Ducks. “It’s not easy, obviously, guys playing through things,” McDavid told reporters in Edmonton. “It sucks, really, but everybody does it. We needed to find a way to be better and we didn’t. I didn’t. And that sucks.” McDavid started the playoffs with the injury and then collided with teammate Mattias Ekholm while skating through the neutral zone during Game 2. That didn’t help things. The injury prevented him from taking part in practices and morning skates from that point on, and it severely limited McDavid’s ability to use his speed in the remaining games. “It was more like change of direction,” he said. “Changing of direction was tough. Stops and starts, tough. I’m fast, but my advantage is my speed bursts, that quick step, and I had none of that.” McDavid still managed to average more than 23 minutes per game against the Ducks. However, other than a couple of dangerous rushes late in Game 4, the NHL’s six-time scoring champion didn’t pose the threat he usually does. “Yeah, I mean, I think we all saw it, right?” said teammate Leon Draisaitl. “His advantage (over) everyone is his speed and the way he attacks, right? “He’s still dangerous. He’s still amazing, even with that (injury). I think we could all tell that it took a step out of him.” As the Oilers went through end-of-season interviews, Draisaitl revealed that he also played at less than 100 percent during the playoffs after missing the last five weeks of the regular season with a knee injury. He produced a league-best 10 points in Round 1, but said, “I didn’t feel like I had the pop in my step that I would like to have.” That was a theme for the Oilers, who saw third-line center Jason Dickinson come in and out of the lineup against Anaheim because of his own ankle fracture, while fourth-line center Adam Henrique didn’t play again after suffering an injury in Game 1. “In the playoffs, our four centers were all sort of compromised,” Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman said. “It’s tough to overcome that. … They were trying. They were gutting it out. Dickinson and Connor were fighting through a lot just to get in the lineup.” The Ducks outscored Edmonton 26-21 in the series on the strength of a sizzling 8-for-16 power play that struck for at least one goal in every game. The first-round exit was a major step back for an Oilers team coming off consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final. After Thursday’s decisive Game 6, McDavid lamented that the 2025-26 Oilers were “an average team with high expectations.” “I think that’s a very fair comment, especially with the way the regular season played out,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We never got a roll going. We never got hot. Winning streaks of three and five (games) are pretty pedestrian, so the fact that we weren’t able to be an elite team during the regular season shows that we weren’t an elite team. “I thought we could have made some noise during the playoffs, and I liked our lineup, but unfortunately, we had some injuries that hindered us.” Draisaitl went a step further Saturday, declaring that the organization had taken “a big step backwards.” That should create plenty of urgency entering the offseason, especially with McDavid only signed for the next two seasons and thirsting for a Stanley Cup. After 11 years with the Oilers, he has grown tired of waiting his turn. “Everybody knows what we’re trying to do here in Edmonton,” said McDavid. “It’s no secret. We’re pressing pretty hard, so the patience is obviously worn pretty thin.” He declined to elaborate on what needs to happen for him to consider extending his stay with the organization beyond the 2027-28 season, saying, “The only thing that matters is competing for the big trophy. That’s all that matters. And if I feel that that’s here, then, yeah.” If there’s a silver lining in the team’s early exit, it’s that McDavid will get a much longer summer to rest and recover. He has played 289 games over the last three seasons, including stints with Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. The Oilers hope to rediscover some of the fire they lost this season when they reconvene for training camp in September. “In what world do you have the best player in the world on your team and you’re not looking to win?” Draisaitl said. “I know we’re looking to win, but we need to be better. We have to be better. There’s no way around it. We have to improve. He’s signed for two more years, and God knows where that goes, but we have two years here as of right now. “We have two years and we have to get significantly better.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms