Oilers, Connor McDavid Will Not Appeal Controversial Suspension

The Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid have decided not to appeal the Oilers captain's controversial suspension, which stemmed from a weekend matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.

McDavid received a three-game suspension Monday after cross-checking Vancouver Canuck Conor Garland in the face after Garland dragged him to the ice late in the third period in an effort to protect Vancouver's one-goal lead.

Most of the controversy stemmed from the fact that McDavid — the best player in hockey — wouldn't have delivered the cross-check had the refs decided to call one of the pretty obvious penalties on Garland, which they didn't. Garland only received a roughing minor in the melee that came after the cross-check.

Frustrating? Sure, but McDavid still lost his cool and now he's paying the price and he and the team are accepting it, but that doesn't mean his Oilers teammates are too enthused about being without their captain for about a week.

"I guess we don't overly care about having our best players in the league in the game," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said, per Sportsnet.

I get what he's coming from… but being one of the best players doesn't give you carte blanche to smoke dudes in the chops with a cross-check.

Oiler Matias Ekholm said the decision to hand McDavid a suspension was "mind-blowing," and it is in the sense that we've been robbed of seeing McDavid in the lineup for a rematch against Vancouver on Thursday.

Before that, however, McDavid will miss a pretty big matchup against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

The Caps captain talked about the hottest topic in hockey ahead of the Tuesday night matchup.

"It's a game, you know it's a passion obviously. I don't think he [meant] to do that," Ovechkin said. "But sucks for him, good for us. He's not playing tonight, we'll take it."

McDavid will be eligible to return to action when the Oilers take on the Seattle Kraken next Monday.