While Connor McDavid served the final game of his suspension, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 at Rogers Place on Saturday (Jan. 25).
Related: Stuart Skinner Was Stellar as Oilers Edge Sabres 3-2
Edmonton won two of three games over the last week while McDavid was suspended. He previously had to sit out Edmonton’s 6-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (Jan. 23) and its 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (Jan. 21).
The Oilers now have a 4-2-0 record without their captain in the lineup this season. Edmonton went 2-1-0 while McDavid was sidelined for three games with an ankle injury at the end of October and the beginning of November.
Oilers Have a Better Points Percentage without McDavid
In 43 games with McDavid this season, Edmonton is 27-13-3. That means the Oilers have a slightly better points percentage when McDavid doesn’t play (.667) compared to when he does (.662).
Granted, six games is a very small sample size. But six is a significant number because it’s also the same number of games Edmonton played without McDavid last season. The Oilers only won one of the six games that McDavid missed in 2023-24.
In six games without McDavid this season, the Oilers have a goal differential of plus-7. In six games without him in 2023-24, Edmonton’s goal differential was minus-9.
Oilers Have Struggled without McDavid in the Past
Historically, Edmonton didn’t fare nearly as well without the services of its superstar centre. From the start of McDavid’s rookie season in 2015-16 until the end of 2023-24, Edmonton had a regular-season record of 349-242-74 (a points percentage of .580) when he was in the lineup compared to 20-26-10 (.446) when he wasn’t in uniform.

Not that this is some kind of groundbreaking revelation. McDavid is a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner, three-time Hart Trophy winner, and the fourth fastest player to 1,000 points in NHL history. Of course, the Oilers saw a drop-off without him. What team wouldn’t?
The Best Teams Win without Their Best Players
But a championship-winning team, as the Oilers aspire to be, can find ways to win even when missing the best player on the planet. In 1987-88, Wayne Gretzky missed one-fifth of the regular season with a knee injury, and the Oilers still managed to post the third-best record in the league before capturing the Stanley Cup. Two seasons later, Edmonton won a Stanley Cup after Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
It’s not merely about having depth of skill and talent to sustain the absence of the best player on the planet, it’s about having the maturity and poise to adjust and proceed without one’s leader. These Oilers are showing they have both.
While McDavid was suspended for three games, seven different Oilers scored, and nine registered at least two points, led by Leon Draisaitl with two goals and three assists. Zach Hyman scored twice against Vancouver. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice against Buffalo. Jeff Skinner had a massive goal against his former team on Saturday. Corey Perry had the Canucks all out of sorts on Thursday. From the first line through the fourth, everyone contributed.
Oilers Are Getting Closer to the Stanley Cup
Edmonton came within one goal of winning the Stanley Cup last June, losing Game 7 of the Final to the Florida Panthers by a score of 2-1. There’s very little that separated the Oilers from getting their hands on the Cup. That’s why even the slightest sign of improvement, advancement, or progression is massively encouraging. That’s all it might take to push Edmonton over the top.
While McDavid was suspended, along with the three games that he was sidelined earlier this season, the Oilers demonstrated such development. In that sense, the absence of McDavid might be a blessing in disguise. By being forced to play without McDavid, Edmonton’s players grew from being in situations they might never have otherwise experienced.
McDavid returns to action on Monday (Jan. 27) against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place with an Oilers team that just might be better than before.
