Connor McDavid tests positive for COVID-19 as Oilers lose 4 straight

Things went from bad to worse for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, as the slumping team lost its captain to pandemic protocol.

Connor McDavid missed practice in Toronto after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Centre Derek Ryan also tested positive. Both were being tested again.

"When two of your four centremen are out, and one of them is Connor McDavid, that's not a positive," head coach Dave Tippett said.

"I think it was a rapid PCR, or something like that. I'm not sure. When you play in as many cities, and there's different rules everywhere you go…it's just crazy. They tell me he's positive, he's positive."

McDavid had coronavirus in October 2020, but felt only "mild symptoms," he said at the time.

After a red hot start to the season, the Oilers lost their fourth game in a row Monday night. The team was 3-8-2 since the start of December.

“I thought we did a lot of things well tonight,” Tippett said after a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

The coach then pointed his finger at goalie Mikko Koskinen.

“Our goaltender wasn't very good and we didn't find enough pucks at the net to get us back in the game. We haven't played as well as we'd like to as a group. There's lots to improve on,” Tippett said.

Tippett and Koskinen were both common targets for blame amongst unhappy fans, a local radio host said Tuesday.

Koskinen lost his last six games, and Tippett hadn't been on the bench for a win in weeks, after he also ended up in COVID protocol.

"Fans are frustrated. They're just tired of all of this. They've seen this story time and time again," said Matthew Iwanyk with TSN 1260.

Iwanyk said the calls, texts and tweets from fans were pretty clear that most wanted change, but the radio host didn't see one coming soon.

"It seems they want to solve this from within. I think we would have seen something by now or seen some sort of rumblings that Ken Holland is talking to someone (about a trade or coaching change)," he said.

'WE JUST GOTTA KEEP GOING'

Tippett addressed the criticism he's facing on Tuesday.

"At my age, that stuff doesn't bother me a bit. I'm with Ken Holland, who's a good man. Maybe the house is burning for you guys, but inside the coaches office, we're trying to put fires out. So we don't worry about the burning," he told reporters.

Defenceman Cody Ceci allowed that players were getting "down" on themselves and "frustrated with teammates," in his postgame media conference Monday.

He added that injuries and COVID protocol absences were making the team's struggles worse.

"We got guys in and out of the lineup, we're not sure who's playing, it's just a frustrating time. But, we can't make any excuses. We're the only ones that can do it and pull ourselves out of this one."

Forward Ryan McLeod had a more positive outlook.

"I think there's a lot of hope in that room. I think we know how good we can be and we're pretty close to getting that service again. I think we just gotta keep going the same way," he said.

Iwanyk said he and many in Edmonton felt that the team would not improve without a change to spark the group.

"I personally believe that they need something. Whether that's a coaching change, a trade, I don't know 100 per cent. I think a coaching change could work because we've seen that with Vancouver and Bruce Boudreau, they went and rattled off seven straight wins when he took over," he said.

The Oilers are scheduled to play the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Wednesday.