Sekera ruptured his Achilles tendon during an offseason workout. He was activated off injured reserve on Feb. 4 and assigned to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League for a five-game conditioning assignment. Mikko Koskinen will start his fourth straight game in goal for the Oilers. The Coyotes are on the second half of a back-to-back; they lost 5-2 at the Calgary Flames on Monday. Arizona is 3-2-0 in its past five games after going 0-4-1 in its previous five. Goalie Darcy Kuemper will start for the Coyotes after Calvin Pickard played against Calgary.
Players to watch
Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games. He has 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 49 games this season. Oilers center Connor McDavid has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past 10 games and 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in his past 23.
They said it
"It's fun that every game is important right now. You want to play those games, and you want to be a part of those games and you want to have a chance to get into the playoffs." --Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the Western Conferenceplayoff race "He's probably the most experienced guy on the back end for us. He's always calm, is a very simple player and will play in any situation. We're glad to have him back." -- Oilers defenseman Matt Benning on the return of Andrej Sekera
Panik did not travel with Arizona, which concludes a three-game Western Canada road trip at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday … Currie, 26, will make his NHL debut. He had 37 points (24 goals, 13 assists) in 49 games with Bakersfield.
Stat pack
Cousins has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past six games … Draisaitl scored a goal in each of Edmonton's past three games. He has 13 points (11 goals, two assists) in his past 10 games … Nugent-Hopkins has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.
