At the Rink: Predators at Oilers

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers will attempt to go into an extended NHL All-Star break with a win when they host the Nashville Predators at Rexall Place on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, FS-TN).

Edmonton (19-25-5) has nine days between games and does not play again until Feb. 2, when center Connor McDavid could return from a fractured clavicle to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"This game scares the [heck] out of me all the time," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Your team is either really, really in it, they're focused, they have an energy going because they're going to get a little bit of time off, or they're already off. I believe our group will come and compete real hard."

Left wing Taylor Hall will represent Edmonton at All-Star Weekend in Nashville (Jan. 30 and 31). The rest of the Oilers will be off for the remainder of January and will reconvene for practice Feb. 1.

"I think there is an emphasis on going into the break on a good note," Oilers center Mark Letestu said. "You want to enjoy your break, get healthy and get some rest. For me, more importantly, because we have this extended break and we have played a lot more games than other teams, we have to keep it as close as possible (in the standings), because they're going to be making up some of those games over this break."

Nashville (21-18-8) has three games before the All-Star break, including Saturday against the Oilers.

"You'd always prefer having both teams going on their break right away," McLellan said. "But Nashville still has two more games after this one and a lot of road trip left, so their minds are quite a way down the road from the break."

Nashville began a four-game road trip with a 4-1 win at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Following their game against the Oilers, the Predators have back-to-back games against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames before returning home.

"They have quite a few days off, and I'm not sure I've ever had that situation before an All-Star Game," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "We play Calgary [Wednesday] and then we fly home that night and then we're off. They get nine days and we get about nine minutes. But we're more focused on us and we're in a position that we have to make sure before the All-Star break on this road trip that we just continue to try and take steps forward."

The Predators won two of their past three games.

"We have been more consistent than we showed in that win [against Winnipeg], but it was a win and it was a positive thing for us to start the road trip," Laviolette said. "I think anytime you can get off on a road trip with a win that could set the tone, then you have to follow it up. We're in the follow-up game right now and we have to make sure we try to follow that up and continue to move forward on the road trip."

Goaltender Cam Talbot will start for Edmonton. Goalie Pekka Rinne will make his 40th start of the season for Nashville.

Here are the projected lineups:

PREDATORS

Kevin Fiala - Ryan Johansen - James Neal

Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith

Eric Nystrom - Mike Fisher - Calle Jarnkrok

Miikka Salomaki - Paul Gaustad - Cody Bass

Roman Josi - Shea Weber

Mattias Ekholm - Ryan Ellis

Anthony Bitetto - Barret Jackman

Pekka Rinne

Carter Hutton

Injured: Colin Wilson (lower body), Gabriel Bourque (upper body)

Scratched: Petter Granberg, Austin Watson

OILERS

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Nail Yakupov – Benoit Pouliot – Jordan Eberle

Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen

Matt Hendricks – Anton Lander – Rob Klinkhammer

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz

Griffin Reinhart - Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Anders Nilsson

Injured: Connor McDavid (collarbone), Oscar Klefbom (lower body), Andrew Ference (hip), Brandon Davidson (undisclosed), Lauri Korpikoski (foot), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hand)

Scratched: Luke Gazdic, Brad Hunt

Status report: Reinhart was called up from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League and will play in place of Davidson, who sustained an undisclosed injury in a 3-2 loss at the Dallas Stars on Thursday. … Korpikoski took part in the morning skate for Edmonton and will be a game-time decision. He has missed the past three games after sustaining a foot injury blocking a shot.

Who's hot: Johansen had a goal and assist Wednesday against the Jets. He has three goals and nine points in seven games since being acquired by the Predators from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a trade for defenseman Seth Jones. … Neal has two goals and three assists in his past four games. … Purcell has two goals and two assists in his past three games.