There's No Way Oilers' Connor McDavid Doesn't Play Game 5, Right?

To say things haven't gone the Edmonton Oilers' way in the first round of these playoffs would be a colossal understatement.

The Oilers have been pushed to the brink of elimination in their first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks. And now, on Tuesday afternoon, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters superstar center Connor McDavid is a game-time decision in what is a do-or-die Game 5.

McDavid suffered an ankle injury in Game 2 that's clearly limiting his abilities in this series. And yet, he still has four points in four games.

So is McDavid really going to miss out on an elimination game?

Oilers Message As They Face Elimination in Game 5 Against Ducks

"Whenever you let in four plus goals, your odds of winning are not that high, so we need to fix that," said Kasperi Kapanen after Tuesday's morning skate, delivering the kind of plainspoken and rather obvious statements that seem to come so easily to NHL players.

As we saw with Sidney Crosby at February's Olympics, Canada's captain tried hard to make it possible to play in the semifinals and gold medal game. But ultimately, he just couldn't go. So there's also precedent this year of a superstar who just couldn't play when they'd be effective at even being 50-percent healthy.

But if he can suit up and get on the ice for warmups in Game 5, the inspiration factor on his Oilers teammates could be through the roof.

This hasn't been an easy year for McDavid, who couldn't deliver Canada to a gold-medal performance at the Olympics. So the opportunity to get deep in the playoffs this year is not one he takes for granted.

But if he does choose to play through whatever's ailing him and he comes through in the clutch, McDavid will add to his already-impressive legacy with the Oilers.

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 3:36 PM.