While the Ducks and Oilers played things out about as long as possible tonight with the Ducks winning 3-2 after a ten-round shootout, Shawn Horcoff’s night was a short one. Horcoff was knocked out of the game in the first period after taking what looked to be a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks forward Corey Perry. Horcoff was able to skate out the rest of his shift, but once he was back on the bench, he headed to the locker room and did not return. The report in the post game said that Horcoff has a MCL injury in his right knee and will miss the next eight weeks pending an MRI.
The Oilers are already dealing with one tough injury to their forward unit as Ales Hemsky is out for a month. Last season, the Oilers saw their season turn for the worse when faced with injuries to Hemsky and Nikolai Khabibulin that knocked them out for the year. While this Oilers team has a bit more talent than last year’s edition, especially with Khabibulin healthy for now, dealing with two tough blows to their forward unit is going to make for a hell of a test for this young team.
The Oilers saw their four-game win streak snapped tonight by the Ducks, but considering they were down 2-0 at one point, getting it to overtime and the shootout says a lot about the team’s fortitude.