NHL referee reveals two more Oilers stars are playing through injuries

By the time teams reach the second round of the playoffs, most players are dealing with several injuries that can reduce their quality of play. It's never good news to hear that two top players in McDavid and Hyman are dealing with injuries, but many other Oilers are too - they need to push through and still play their best possible game. For the last week or so, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, and Evander Kane have all been absent from practice nursing injuries of their own.

The Oilers need to find a way to be able to push through this adversity, but mounting injuries to almost all of the top six - especially McDavid and Draisaitl - may be too much to overcome. Last night the Oilers top line with McDavid and Hyman was actually not good, an incredibly rare sight in the playoffs. Injuries could certainly explain their decreased effectiveness.

Playing with their backup goalie in net and with several of their most important players battling injuries, the Oilers may have an uphill battle to comeback and win this series. The team will need a Herculean effort from the superstars to push through injury and defend their home ice on Saturday night, while they face elimination.

The Oilers have come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win before, and now they'll need to channel that playoff experience into their best efforts into taking down the Canucks tomorrow night.