Avalanche at Oilers preview

AVALANCHE (32-23-4) at OILERS (24-31-4)
9 p.m. ET; SN1, ALT, NHL.TV

Colorado is sixth in the Central Division, three points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They are playing the second of a three-game Western Canada road trip. Colorado came back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime Tuesday.
Edmonton is seventh in the Pacific Division. The Oilers have lost seven of their past eight games (1-7-0) and are 19 points out of a playoff spot. Edmonton defeated Colorado 4-2 on Sunday to end a six-game losing streak, then lost 3-2 against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon scored the overtime winner and had three assists against Vancouver on Tuesday.
Oilers center Connor McDavid had a hat trick in the win against Colorado on Sunday. McDavid has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"I think we can certainly make it a little bit tougher on him from a defensive standpoint. I thought we were a little bit loose in the home game and a little soft on him at times during the game." -- Colorado coach Jared Bednar on Oilers forward Connor McDavid, who scored three goals in a 4-2 win on Sunday.
"He's so explosive, he's such a good skater and is so powerful. He's got really good hands, great shot and thinks the game real well. You can't really say enough good things about him. He's putting it all together this year. " -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto
-- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Gabriel Bourque -- Alex Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher
Colin Wilson -- Tyson Jost -- Nail Yakupov
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Samuel Girard -- Patrik Nemeth
David Warsofsky
--
Duncan Siemens
Semyon Varlamov
Andrew Hammond
Scratched: Andrei Mironov, Dominic Toninato
Injured: Vladislav Kamenev (arm), Mark Barberio (lower body), Jonathan Bernier (concussion), Erik Johnson (upper body), Sven Andrighetto (leg), Anton Lindholm (upper body)

Oilers projected lineup

Milan Lucic -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl
Michael Cammalleri -- Ryan Strome -- Anton Slepyshev
Jesse Puljujarvi -- Mark Letestu -- Zack Kassian
Yohann Auvitu -- Jujhar Khaira -- Iiro Pakarinen
Darnell Nurse -- Adam Larsson
Oscar Klefbom -- Kris Russell
Brandon Davidson -- Matt Benning
Cam Talbot
Al Montoya
Scratched: None
Injured: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (upper body), Andrej Sekera (head), Patrick Maroon (lower body), Drake Caggiula (illness)

Status report

Maroon is out with a lower body injury, but should return to the lineup Saturday at the Los Angeles Kings, according to coach Todd McLellan … Caggiula is out with an illness.

Stat pack

Barrie had one goal and five assists in the win at Vancouver … Rantanen has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in his past 20 games … Draisaitl has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in his past 16 games.