Stars at Oilers preview
Edmonton's McDavid, Draisaitl each out to extend point streak; Dallas on 6-0-1 run
by Derek Van Diest / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
STARS (10-8-2) at OILERS (13-6-2)
4 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-SW, NHL.TV
The Game
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each will look to extend his point streak for the Edmonton Oilers when they host the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place on Saturday.
Draisaitl has 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) during an 11-game point streak, including five assists in a 6-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. He leads the NHL in scoring with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists).
McDavid has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak, including an NHL career-high six points (three goals, three assists) against Colorado. He's had a hat trick in two of the past three games.
Mikko Koskinen will start in net for Edmonton.
Dallas is on a seven-game point streak (6-0-1) and is 8-1-1 after starting the season 1-7-1. The Stars have outscored opponents 17-8 in their past five games.
The Stars are playing the last of a four-game road trip. They won 4-2 at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday to improve to 2-0-1.
Ben Bishop is expected to start in net for Dallas.
Players to watch
Stars forward Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist in the win against the Canucks. He leads Dallas with 13 points (four goals, nine assists).
Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two goals against the Avalanche. He has four goals in the past three games and is three points from 400 in the NHL.
They said it
"I think we have a lot of skill in our lineup and we have a lot of players that can make plays. Skill can take over, but if you don't have the will, then skill doesn't show, and that's what we're seeing: We're doing skill and will right now, and I think that makes us a dangerous team." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery after the win against the Canucks
"We just shot it more, kept it simple. When you do that, that's when lanes open up. We just did a good job keeping it simple and getting the puck to the net." -- Oilers center Connor McDavid on Edmonton's four power-play goals against the Avalanche
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn -- Justin Dowling -- Tyler Seguin
Alexander Radulov -- Jason Dickinson -- Corey Perry
Nick Caamano -- Joe Pavelski -- Denis Gurianov
Rhett Gardner -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell -- Andrej Sekera
Roman Polak -- Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Joel Hanley
Injured: Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches), Roope Hintz (lower body), John Klingberg (lower body), Mattias Janmark (lower body), Andrew Cogliano (lower body)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
James Neal -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Josh Archibald
Joakim Nygard -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Oscar Klefbom -- Caleb Jones
Kris Russell -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched: Markus Granlund, Sam Gagner, Joel Persson
Injured: Adam Larsson (leg), Brandon Manning (hand)
Status report
Polak returned to the lineup against Vancouver after missing 18 games with a fractured sternum sustained in the season opener Oct. 3 against the Boston Bruins. ... Gardner was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Thursday and played 9:44 against the Canucks. ... Sekera will play in Edmonton for the first time since the Oilers bought out the final two seasons of his contract June 30. ... Jones played 14:40 against the Avalanche in his season debut.
Stat pack
Faksa has three goals and three assists during a four-game point streak. … Bishop is 5-1-0 with a 1.43 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in his past seven starts. … Kassian is on a three-game goal streak and has five points (three goals, two assists) in that span.