McDavid sustains lower-body injury in blowout loss to Blue Jackets

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid exited Monday's 6-1 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a lower-body injury.

McDavid left the game after an awkward fall 37 seconds into his first shift.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame that McDavid will travel back to Edmonton to be evaluated. The Oilers' next two contests are on the road in Nashville on Thursday and in Calgary on Sunday.

"It should be an opportunity for guys to step up and say, 'Oh, I got this,'" Knoblauch added. "It's just more ice time, more opportunity. It's tough any time playing without your best player, but something that we're gonna have to. Hopefully short term. ... Maybe that's one, two games, I'm not sure."

The Blue Jackets stormed out to a 3-0 lead before the end of the first period. Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm scored with 27 seconds left to end Elvis Merzlikins' shutout bid.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played 20:42 to lead Edmonton's forwards in McDavid's absence.

"(McDavid's) our leader, obviously, and also the best player in the game, so of course you're gonna feel it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We gotta do a better job of stepping up when a guy like that goes down, though."

McDavid tallied three goals and 10 points in the Oilers' first nine games of the campaign. He missed six contests last season, during which time the team went 1-4-1. The 27-year-old played the full 82-game slate in 2022-23.

He captured the Conn Smythe Trophy last season and finished third in Hart Trophy voting after recording 100 assists and 132 points.