The Edmonton Oilers were already in a tough spot for tonight's game without Leon Draisaitl against the Winnipeg Jets, but things got much worse with the loss of Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner.
Draisaitl was listed as a game time decision sustaining an injury against Utah, and then Connor McDavid left tonight's game after a dirty cross check from Josh Morrissey.
Edmonton Oilers lose Stuart Skinner due to injury
If the Oilers weren't already in a worst case scenario for tonight's game, things got worse when Stuart Skinner was forced out of the game with less than 5 minutes left in the third period. The change in goal abruptly came during commercial break.
Skinner collided with Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi earlier in the period, and Oilers reporters believe that concussion spotters were the ones to pull him from the game.
S. Skinner just pulled from the game. Concussion spotter perhaps.
Concussions can be a very tricky injury to deal with, including with massive variance in recovery times. Hopefully the pull was out of an abundance of caution, and if Skinner is injured, he'll be able to make a quick recovery.
Oilers could be in brutal position with McDavid, Draisaitl, Skinner injured before playoffs
Stuart Skinner has struggled to maintain consistency and good performances against quality teams this season, but he's still the team's start over Calvin Pickard. The organization doesn't want to have to play the backup goalie in any playoff games at all.
Losing all of Stuart Skinner, Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid with injuries just weeks away from the playoffs is a terrifying situation for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers may end up being very cautious with their stars dealing with injuries down the stretch, possibly scratching them for certain matchups to get them fully rested before the playoffs.
The team simply can't afford to gamble with injuries to these three players, so whatever they have to do, the priority is being healthy for playoffs.
