The visiting Edmonton Oilers lost center Connor McDavid to a lower-body injury in the opening minute against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday evening and then lost the game 6-1.
McDavid was tripped as he crossed the blue line shortly after winning the opening faceoff. The three-time Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player) winner and seven-time All Star slid skates-first into the sideboards and into the corner before leaving the ice under his own power.
Edmonton then gave up three goals in the next 14 minutes.
McDavid will head back to Edmonton to be re-evaluated, coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame.
Sean Monahan scored two goals, Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists Adam Fantilli added a goal and an assist, and Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have alternated losses and wins through the first nine games of the season.
Columbus’ Mikael Pyyhtia and Mathieu Olivier also scored.
Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for the Oilers, who had won two in a row.
Columbus was on an early power play when Kirill Marchenko fed Monahan from the top of the right circle. Monahan redirected the puck into the net from the slot for a 1-0 lead at 2:18.
Sillinger passed the puck from out of the corner below the goal line to Fantilli, who scored with a one-timer for a 2-0 lead at 10:44.
Sillinger made it 3-0 at 14:32 when he took a swipe at the puck from the left point and it found the net.
The Blue Jackets failed to capitalize on a four-minute high-sticking penalty on Derek Ryan at 2:16 of the second period, but Columbus scored on the next shift following the power play to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Blue Jackets won the puck back behind the Edmonton goal line and it went out front to James van Riemsdyk, who made a short pass to Olivier for the tap-in goal at 7:04.
Pyyhtia scored his first NHL goal in his 27th game off a feed from Fantilli to make it 5-0 at 15:15 of the third period.
Monahan followed up with his second goal of the game at 16:39 to make it 6-0.
Merzlikins was denied his 11th NHL shutout when Ekholm scored a power-play goal with 27 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
