McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 11 games. He is eight points shy of 1,000 for his career.

“He’s obviously the most important part of the team, so he’s missed when he’s not here,” Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak said. “He brings something that no other player in the League brings, so it was nice to have him back there and I think he felt good.”

McDavid had 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 20 regular season games against the Golden Knights entering the contest. Vegas did a good job of containing him and Leon Draisaitl on Wednesday, keeping both of them off the scoresheet.

“We always try to work over him, there are no secrets,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If you can minimize his speed through the neutral zone, he’s forced to kick pucks out and at least you have his winger making the play instead of him holding you back. I thought we tried to do that with Draisaitl and tonight we were successful.”

McDavid will be back in the lineup when Edmonton (6-7-1) travels to the Vancouver Canucks (6-2-3) at Rogers Arena on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY).

“Obviously he’s our leader, the best player in the game,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “So it makes a big difference for us.”