Oilers at Ducks preview
Green, Athanasiou, Milano among eight to make team debut for Edmonton, Anaheim
by Dan Arritt / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
OILERS (33-22-7) at DUCKS (24-30-8)
10 p.m. ET; PRIME, SNW, NHL.TV
The Game
Eight players will debut with their new team when the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks meet at Honda Center on Tuesday.
Forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Ennis, and defenseman Mike Green were acquired by Edmonton prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday. The Oilers are three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
Forwards Sonny Milano, Danton Heinen and Andrew Agozzino, and defensemen Christian Djoos and Matt Irwin will each make his debut for Anaheim after they were acquired on Monday.
The Ducks have lost four straight games and are 0-4-1 in their past five home games.
Players to watch
Oilers center Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists in a 4-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday in his return after missing six games with a quad injury.
Ducks forward Adam Henrique had an NHL career-high four points (two goals, two assists) in a 6-5 overtime loss to visiting Vegas on Sunday and has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past eight games.
They said it
"I can sit around and do nothing, but I felt like I had an obligation to pitch in and help a team that's worked extremely hard." -- Edmonton general manager Ken Holland
"The next 20 games, or whatever we've got left, is going to tell us a lot about some of our younger players." -- Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray
Oilers projected lineup
Tyler Ennis -- Connor McDavid -- Andreas Athanasiou
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Josh Archibald
Markus Granlund -- Riley Sheahan -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Gaetan Haas -- Patrick Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Caleb Jones -- Adam Larsson
William Lagesson -- Mike Green
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: Matt Benning
Injured: Kailer Yamamoto (ankle), Oscar Klefbom (shoulder), Kris Russell (concussion), James Neal (foot), Joakim Nygard (hand)
Suspended: Zack Kassian
Ducks projected lineup
Sonny Milano -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen -- Adam Henrique -- Kiefer Sherwood
Max Jones -- Sam Steel -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Andrew Agozzino -- Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Jacob Larsson -- Michael Del Zotto
Christian Djoos -- Matt Irwin
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched: David Backes, Kyle Criscuolo, Joel Persson
Injured: Cam Fowler (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body)
Status report
Ennis and Athanasiou will play on the top line with McDavid. … Yamamoto was injured on Sunday and is week to week. ... Granlund was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. ... Milano will skate on the top line and Heinen on the second line. ... Defensemen Fowler and Gudbranson are each expected to be out approximately two more weeks.
Stat pack
The Oilers are 34-for-36 on the penalty kill in their past 13 games (94.4 percent) and are second in the NHL in penalty-kill percentage (84.7 percent). ... The Ducks are second in the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals, and the Oilers have given up the second-most shorthanded goals in the League (10).