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Oil woes: Injured Smyth leaves team, returns to Edmonton

Red Wings Oilers Hockey

Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan Smyth screens Detroit Red Wings goalie Joey MacDonald during second period NHL hockey game action in Edmonton,Alberta, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

AP

The Oilers got more bad news on the injury front on Monday, as alternate captain Ryan Smyth returned to Edmonton with one game remaining on the club’s Eastern road swing.

Smyth, 37, appeared to be hurt at some point during Saturday’s 3-1 win over Ottawa, a game in which fellow Oiler Taylor Hall also left after a knee-on-knee collision with Sens defenseman Eric Gryba.

Hall has already been flown back to Edmonton for a MRI; it’s unclear what Smyth has returned for, as the club only said he’ll be looked at by its medical staff.

Smyth was a healthy scratch earlier in the season but had picked up his game lately. The veteran winger scored three goals in back-to-back games against Montreal and Toronto last week and had nine shots on goal in his last two games, against the Isles and Sens.

Edmonton finishes its three-game roadie on Tuesday against Montreal. The club has recalled forward Tyler Pitlick from AHL Oklahoma City to fill the voids left by Smyth and Hall.