Oilers at Hurricanes preview

OILERS (24-27-5) at HURRICANES (29-22-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, SNW, NHL.TV

The Hurricanes, 6-2-0 in their past eight games, trail the Pittsburgh Penguins by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Goalie Curtis McElhinney will start for Carolina; he's 6-0-0 in nine games against the Oilers with a 2.11 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and one shutout.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for the Oilers, who have lost two straight games, are 1-6-2 in their past nine and have allowed at least four goals in six of them.
Edmonton is six points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Oilers center Connor McDavid has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in an eight-game point streak and 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in his past 21 games.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, McDavid's linemate, has 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in his past eight games.
Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"If you're not prepared to get it behind them and kind of play a territorial game, you're just going to get eaten alive. Where they beat you is the races up ice. You think you're on the forecheck, then two steps later, you're chasing a defenseman from behind." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock
"You're always worried when you have game-changing players on the other team. There's a handful in this league and obviously there's one tonight. You certainly wouldn't want to be intimidated, but you have to rise up for the challenge. That's what all good players do." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on facing Oilers center Connor McDavid

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Milan Lucic -- Brad Malone -- Alex Chiasson
Tobias Rieder -- Colby Cave -- Ty Rattie
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Alexander Petrovic -- Kevin Gravel
Mikko Koskinen
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Brandon Manning, Kyle Brodziak
Injured:Matt Benning (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Lucas Wallmark -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Martinook -- Brock McGinn
Warren Foegele -- Greg McKegg -- Saku Maenalanen
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Calvin de Haan -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Curtis McElhinney
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: None
Injured: Jordan Staal (upper body)

Status report

The Oilers held an optional morning skate. … Edmonton's line combinations will be determined after warmups because of injuries, Hitchcock said. … Williams and Martinook did not participate in the morning skate, but each will play. … Staal took part in the skate wearing a yellow no-contact jersey.

Stat pack

Nugent-Hopkins has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games. … Teravainen has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 10 games. … Hamilton has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 18 games against Edmonton.