Oilers at Flames preview

OILERS (30-34-4) at FLAMES (34-26-10)
9 p.m. ET; SN, SN1 (JIP), NHL.TV

The Flames are two points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the final playoff spot, and are three points behind the third-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.
The Oilers, who trail the Avalanche by 16 points, are 3-0-0 against the Flames this season and have won seven straight against them the past two seasons.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Connor McDavid has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during a seven-game point streak, and 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games.
Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak, and 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in his past 20 games.

They said it

"We understand where they're at and this is a huge game for them. We get that and we're excited to have the opportunity to put them in a tough spot." -- Oilers forward Connor McDavid
"We come into it as if it's any other game right now. It's an important game for us. Each game is more and more important for us as the season winds down here. We have to worry about ourselves here." -- Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Pontus Aberg
Milan Lucic -- Leon Draisaitl -- Michael Cammalleri
Jesse Puljujarvi -- Ryan Strome -- Anton Slepyshev
Drake Caggiula -- Jujhar Khaira -- Zack Kassian
Adam Larsson -- Darnell Nurse
Andrej Sekera -- Matt Benning
Kris Russell -- Ethan Bear
Cam Talbot
Al Montoya
Scratched: Yohann Auvitu, Iiro Pakarinen
Injured:Oscar Klefbom (shoulder)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Sam Bennett -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Troy Brouwer -- Nicholas Shore -- Chris Stewart
Curtis Lazar -- Matt Stajan -- Garnet Hathaway
Dougie Hamilton -- Mark Giordano
TJ Brodie -- Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak -- Michael Stone
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: Mark Jankowski, Tanner Glass, Matt Bartkowski
Injured:Matthew Tkachuk (upper body), Kris Versteeg (lower body), Marek Hrivik (upper body)

Status report

The Oilers and Flames each held optional morning skates Tuesday. … Monahan did not skate Monday or Tuesday but is expected to play. Stewart will play after being a healthy scratch the past five games. Tkachuk is considered day to day after getting injured in the third period of a 5-2 loss against the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Stat pack

Draisaitl has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past nine games. …Talbot is 3-0-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in his past three games. Cammalleri will play his 900th NHL game. … Giordano has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games.