BLOG: McDavid feeling confident in quick recovery

EDMONTON, AB – Despite the potential of missing his second straight game on Friday night, Connor McDavid is feeling positive about his progress towards returning from a minor lower-body injury with only a handful of regular-season games left on the Oilers schedule before they begin their quest for the Stanley Cup.

“I feel good,” McDavid said after participating in Friday’s morning skate. “Probably won't go tonight, but I'm feeling good.”

McDavid is questionable to suit up for the second straight game tonight against the Coyotes after taking part this morning in his first practice with teammates in four days. The Oilers captain was keeping his hands warm in some stick-handling drills this morning in hopes of getting back into the lineup sooner rather than later to help his team push for a Pacific Division title over the final five games of the regular season, which will be played over the next seven days.

"We still have lots to play for coming down the stretch," McDavid said. "We keep saying that there's seeding, there's positioning, there's all those types of things – all while maintaining a healthy group.

"I'm not a big believer in resting guys, but with that being said, six games in nine days is a lot. So if we rest guys, that's just the circumstances we're in, but I think you want to be pedal to the metal, foot on the gas all the way to the end and into Game 1."

McDavid could’ve pushed himself to be ready for tonight's clash with the Coyotes or Wednesday’s win over Vegas, when his teammates confidently brushed aside their Pacific Division rivals, but the importance of being 100 percent by the time the postseason arrives and the condensed end to Edmonton's regular season are good reasons to play it safe with the captain.

“I want to feel good, I want to feel at my best, and that's not the case tonight," McDavid said.

However, the captain is feeling confident in a quick recovery and could be back in the lineup on Saturday to help the Oilers compete for two crucial points in the Pacific Division standings against the Canucks, but that decision has not yet been made.

McDavid sits on 130 points this season – third in the NHL scoring race and 11 back of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov – and is one assist shy of becoming the fourth different player in NHL history to record 100 assists in a single season.

“Extremely confident,” he said. “Extremely confident that I’ll turn the corner quickly and be ready to roll.”

“We've really been taking it a day at a time. We've been making decisions day-to-day and we'll cross that bridge as well."