GAME RECAP: Blue Jackets 6, Oilers 1

COLUMBUS, OH – The Oilers lost more than the result on Monday night at Nationwide Arena, falling 6-1 to the Blue Jackets to suffer their fourth straight defeat in Columbus while losing Connor McDavid to a lower-body injury early in the first period.

Mattias Ekholm broke up the shutout in the last minute on the power play, but the Blue Jackets scored six straight goals following the departure of the Oilers captain early in the opening frame, who left with a lower-body injury he sustained falling into the boards on a missed tripping penalty during the opening shift.

"He's going back to Edmonton to get evaluated," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I'll have [an update] later tomorrow."

Centre Sean Monahan scored twice for the Blue Jackets, and Cole Sillinger (1G, 2A), Adam Fantilli (1G, 1A) and Kirill Marchenko (2A) all finished with multi-point outings. Forward Mikael Pyhhtia also scored his first NHL goal.

Ekholm extended his point streak to three games (1G, 4A) with the late power-play marker, while Corey Perry and Darnell Nurse got the assists. Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 19 saves on 25 shots in the defeat, which drops Edmonton's overall record to 4-5-1.

The Oilers haven't beaten the Blue Jackets on the road since Nov. 30, 2019, losing on their last four visits to Columbus by a 21-10 goal margin and conceding six goals on two separate occasions.

The Oilers will have two days to determine the status of their captain before returning to Bridgestone Arena on Thursday to face the Nashville Predators.

"With Stan [Bowman] being here, we've discussed it and we'll make that decision either tonight or tomorrow about who's coming up to replace him," Knoblauch said.

FIRST PERIOD

A three-goal lead for Columbus didn't seem like Edmonton's biggest concern through 20 minutes after watching captain Connor McDavid exit down the tunnel early in the period with a lower-body injury.

"He's our leader and also the best player in the game," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "So, of course, you're going to feel it. We have to do a better job of stepping up when a guy like that goes down."

McDavid hit the ice and crashed into the boards near the Columbus bench after the officials missed a tripping call against Zach Werenski on the opening shift. McDavid exited the ice surface and tried to shake off the crash on the bench before eventually leaving the game with a confirmed lower-body injury.

"He's your captain and your best player," Knoblauch said. "It should be an opportunity for guys to step up and say, 'I got this.' Just more ice time, more opportunity, and I think it's tough anytime you're playing without your best player, but if it's something that we're going to have to deal with – hopefully, short term – obviously our team's going to look different. But like I said, if that's one or two games, I'm not sure."

It was already 1-0 for the Blue Jackets when it was announced McDavid wouldn't return after Sean Monahan redirected home a power-play goal from the high slot that came as a result of Viktor Arvidsson taking a penalty for sweeping the legs out from underneath Elvis Merzlikins during a forecheck.

With McDavid out for the rest of the game, the Blue Jackets took advantage and doubled their lead near the period's midway mark when Adam Fantilli was found alone out in front by Cole Sillinger for a snap shot that beat Stuart Skinner over the right pad.

Just under four minutes later, Skinner didn't see the puck on a spin-around shot from Sillinger near the Oilers bench that bounced on its way through, beating him five-hole with forward Mikhael Pyyhtia providing the screen in front on the 3-0 goal. Skinner would be responsible for allowing three goals on six first-period shots from Columbus.

"Just overall, a lot of battles that we should have won and they came up with," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We know they're a fast team who capitalize on little breakdowns, and that's what we saw. Obviously, that first power-play goal by them got them going, and then we had some looks."

The Oilers had a five-on-three for 40 seconds in the final minute of the period to try and get one back before the intermission. After taking their timeout, they could only register one shot with the two-man advantage as they entered the intermission trailing by three.

SECOND PERIOD

On the other side of the intermission, it was Edmonton's turn to come up with a critical penalty kill when Derek Ryan's double-minor for high sticking early in the frame gave Columbus an extended look with the power play.

The Oilers didn't allow a shot and even had their best chance at cutting into the Columbus lead, seeing Connor Brown have his five-hole attempt on a partial breakaway against Elvis Merzlikins turned aside to keep it 3-0 with more than 15 minutes to go in the second period.

The Blue Jackets made it 4-0 on a fourth-line shift where Derek Ryan had the puck taken off him in the corner before it was chopped in front to James van Riemsdyk, who took a few whacks at it before Mathieu Olivier finished it off at the left post for his side's fourth goal and a commanding lead.

Outshooting the Blue Jackets 22-14 after two periods, the Oilers had five shots on net over three consecutive power plays that followed Columbus' fourth, running a few different combinations without McDavid but failing to get a goal back on five total chances in the first 40 minutes to drop their overall PP efficiency to 3-for-28 (10.7 percent).

THIRD PERIOD

Despite a late goal from Mattias Ekholm on the power play, it would end in heavy defeat for the Oilers.

The Swedish defenceman sifted a late PPG through traffic when Jake Christiansen cross-checked Ryan Nugent-Hopkins down in the last minute of regulation to give the Oilers a power play.

The Jackets' blueliner ended up costing Merzlikins his shutout after Ekholm's effort beat the resilient goalie under the glove with Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry providing screens.

Merzlikins showed his frustration in not preserving his shutout with a hard stick whack against the post, but upon the conclusion of the final 27 seconds of regulation, there was still a victory for him to celebrate with his teammates after the netminder played well with the 31-save performance.

The Blue Jackets have now scored six goals in all of their victories this season, which have traded hand-in-hand with losses this season over their opening eight games (L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W).

The Oilers will look to re-evaluate at 4-5-1 this season and regroup with a day off on Tuesday and a team practice Wednesday in Nashville.