Flames at Oilers preview

FLAMES (26-19-6) at OILERS (26-18-5)
10 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNW, TVAS, NHL.TV

Edmonton, which is playing its first game following its League-mandated break prior to the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game, has won two straight games and is 6-1-1 in its past eight.
David Rittich will start for Calgary, which is coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and is 1-2-1 in its past four games.
The Flames won the first two games against the Oilers this season and lead them by one point for second place in the Pacific Division.

Players to watch

Flames forward Elias Lindholm has four points (three goals, one assist) in two games against Edmonton this season.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in an eight-game point streak.

They said it

"This is a building we had success in earlier, last month (5-1 win on Dec. 27), and if we play the same way we did then, I like our chances because we came in here last time and played a really smart game and we took away their two top guys (Connor McDavid, Draisaitl) as well as we maybe could have." -- Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk
"It's fun when you're playing for something and we're playing for keeps right now. Every point matters right now, and that's what we're concerned about in here." -- Oilers goalie Mike Smith

Flames projected lineup

Andrew Mangiapane -- Elias Lindholm -- Matthew Tkachuk
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Buddy Robinson
Sam Bennett -- Mikael Backlund -- Tobias Rieder
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Zac Rinaldo
Mark Giordano -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington -- TJ Brodie
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Michael Stone, Mark Jankowski, Dillon Dube
Injured: None

Oilers projected lineup

James Neal -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto
Joakim Nygard -- Riley Sheahan -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Gaetan Haas -- Josh Archibald
Oscar Klefbom -- Ethan Bear
Darnell Nurse -- Adam Larsson
Kris Russell -- Matt Benning
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched:Patrick Russell, Sam Gagner, Caleb Jones
Injured:None

Status report

Kassian will return from a two-game suspension for serving as the aggressor in an altercation with Tkachuk in a 4-3 loss to the Flames on Jan. 11. … Rinaldo will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past three games. … Rieder will play after being a healthy scratch against St. Louis. …. Benning will return to the lineup after missing the past 20 games because of a head injury. … Smith will face his former team for the first time since signing with Edmonton as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Stat pack

McDavid has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak. … Nugent-Hopkins has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Monahan scored twice against the Blues after going his previous seven games without a goal.