Flames at Oilers preview

Lucic played the previous three seasons with Edmonton before he was traded to Calgary on July 19 for forward James Neal and a conditional third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 37 games during his first season with the Flames, who are 1-3-1 in their past five games after a seven-game winning streak.

Neal will play his first game against the Flames. He played one season in Calgary before being traded to Edmonton. Neal has 23 points (16 goals, seven assists) in 40 games for the Oilers, who are 2-6-1 in their past nine.

Goalie David Rittich will start for Calgary and Mikko Koskinen will start for Edmonton.

Players to watch

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games.

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games

They said it

"I spent three years here, some good, some bad. But all in all, I enjoyed my time here and it's nice to be back in Edmonton." -- Flames forward Milan Lucic

"Obviously last year was hard and for whatever reason it wasn't a fit. I felt like I wasn't getting that chance and as a player you want that chance. I got that here and it's gone well." -- Oilers forward James Neal

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Mikael Backlund

Matthew Tkachuk -- Elias Lindholm -- Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube

Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Michael Frolik

Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie

Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic

Oliver Kylington -- Rasmus Andersson

David Rittich

Cam Talbot

Scratched: Tobias Rieder, Michael Stone, Zac Rinaldo

Injured: None

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian

James Neal -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Josh Archibald

Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell

Joakim Nygard -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson

Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson

Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear

Kris Russell -- Caleb Jones

Mikko Koskinen

Mike Smith

Scratched: Brandon Manning, Sam Gagner, Markus Granlund

Injured: Matt Benning (head)

Status report

Frolik was a healthy scratch for the past two games and Jankowski has been a healthy scratch in three of the past four. Talbot will be the backup in his first game against Edmonton with Calgary. His next appearance will be his 300th in the NHL. … Smith will be the backup in his first game with Edmonton against Calgary. Each goalie signed as a free agent on July 1.

Stat pack

Lindholm has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past three games. Gaudreau has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past five games. … McDavid has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past eight games.