SportsHockeyOilers

McDavid nearly gets into first-ever fight with Edmonton Oilers

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
|
Mar 13 2026, 1:00 pm
McDavid nearly gets into first-ever fight with Edmonton Oilers
Jerome Miron/Imagn Images

Frustration boiled over for Connor McDavid during Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Dallas Stars.

It wasn’t even close as the Stars dominated the Oilers to the tune of a 7-2 drubbing to sweep the three-game season series. Dallas jumped out to a dominant 5-0 lead in the second period before goals from Evan Bouchard and Jason Dickinson got Edmonton on the board.

After a dismal 40 minutes, the buzzer rang to end the middle frame, and that’s when the fireworks were set off. Stars rookie Arttu Hyry shot the puck directly at Leon Draisaitl as time expired, upsetting McDavid and causing a mini-brawl at the end of the period.

The Oilers captain eventually got into a spirited wrestling match with Justin Hryckowian that may have been the closest McDavid has ever gotten to an NHL fight.

This did, however, fall short of an official fight as McDavid only received a roughing penalty in the aftermath of the scrum. Still, it was a lot more emotion than fans are accustomed to seeing from the Oilers captain, signalling that there may have been some frustration bubbling up.

The only time McDavid was credited with a fighting major in a hockey game came during his OHL days with the Erie Otters in the 2014-15 season.

Zach Hyman admitted after the game that McDavid isn’t the guy who should be leading the way physically.

“He’s the last guy that should be doing that, to be honest,” Hyman told reporters. “I think, as a group, when things are going like that, I think that there are ways to be engaged. I think you saw him trying to pull our group back into the fight.

“I think we can do a better job as a team to push back, and we did, but it wasn’t enough.”

McDavid wasn’t the only player getting involved in the rough stuff. Draisaitl also got his licks in that very same scrum, earning himself a slashing penalty as well.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t seem to mind seeing McDavid let off some steam.

“Obviously, he’s very frustrated and trying to fire up our team,” Knoblauch said. “He didn’t like the shot at Leon… they just roughed it up a little bit.

“There is a lot of fire from our leaders, and we need that.”

The Oilers still have a chance to salvage this road trip. They will visit the St. Louis Blues on Friday night, and a victory would give them three wins on a rather difficult four-game trip. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. MDT.

ADVERTISEMENT