Flames at Oilers preview

FLAMES (19-9-2) at OILERS (15-12-2)
9 p.m. ET; SN, SN1, NHL.TV

The Flames are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games. They defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Saturday and the Oilers 4-2 on Nov. 17.
Goalie David Rittich is expected to start for the Flames in the second of a back to back.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for the Oilers, who are 5-1-0 in their past six games and are 6-2-1 under coach Ken Hitchcock. They have won four straight on home ice.

Players to watch

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 30 games. He has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid had four points (one goal, three assists) in a 7-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. He has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"I think our older guys, our veteran guys, are very mature and have a lot of experience in the League and our young guys are gaining that experience. But the confidence they have in each other is important and continues to grow, which is a positive." -- Flames coach Bill Peters after the game Saturday
"It's a historic rivalry and I think people in Alberta have been waiting a long time for it to become a competitive rivalry again. It's a big game for both teams, they're obviously rolling, they're first in the West and they want to keep things rolling." -- Oilers forward Milan Lucic

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Derek Ryan -- Sam Bennett
Andrew Mangiapane
-- Mark Jankowski -- James Neal
Austin Czarnik --
Alan Quine
-- Garnet Hathaway
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
TJ Brodie -- Rasmus Andersson
Oliver Kylington -- Dalton Prout
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched:Anthony Peluso
Injured:Juuso Valimaki (lower body), Michael Stone (blood clot), Michael Frolik (lower body), Mikael Backlund (concussion)
Suspended:Mark Giordano

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Valentin Zykov -- Ryan Spooner -- Ty Rattie
Milan Lucic -- Kyle Brodziak -- Zack Kassian
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Kevin Gravel -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Jason Garrison, Chris Wideman, Cooper Marody
Injured:Andrej Sekera (Achilles), Tobias Rieder (upper body), Drake Caggiula (hand)

Status report

Calgary did not have a morning skate. … Giordano is serving the second of his two-game suspension for kneeing Wild forward Mikko Koivu … The Flames recalled Peluso from Stockton of the American Hockey League and reassigned forward Ryan Lomberg … Caggiula will miss his third straight game.

Stat pack

Gaudreau is on a seven-game point streak (13 points; four goals, nine assists). … Lindholm is on a six-game point streak (11 goals; five goals, six assists). … Draisaitl has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games. ... Klefbom has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past seven games.