Oilers at Hurricanes preview

OILERS (31-21-6) at HURRICANES (33-21-3)
4 p.m. ET; FS-CR, SNW, NHL.TV

Aho has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) during his eight-game streak and has scored at least one goal in six of the past seven.
Carolina has won three of its past four games and six of nine.
The Oilers will complete a back-to-back after defeating the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday. The game will end a four-day, three-game road trip for Edmonton, which has won three of four and is 11-4-2 in its past 17.
The Hurricanes defeated the Oilers 6-3 on Dec. 10.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak and leads the NHL with 92 points (33 goals, 59 assists).
Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov has four goals and four assists during a six-game point streak.

They said it

"This road trip is probably one of the toughest road trips of the year, traveling a long way. It's a lot of games in four days. To grind two points out (against the Panthers) going into tomorrow, we should have a good feeling." -- Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson
"They still have one of the best players in the game (Draisaitl). They may have to start relying on some other guys who haven't had the opportunity, and they do have a lot of talent on that team. But to me, right now, it isn't so much about the other teams we're playing, it's about us playing that 60-minute game." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on playing the Oilers without injured center Connor McDavid

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto
Sam Gagner -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Josh Archibald -- Riley Sheahan -- Tyler Benson
Jujhar Khaira -- Colby Cave -- Patrick Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones -- Matt Benning
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: William Lagesson, Markus Granlund
Injured: Connor McDavid (quad), Kris Russell (concussion), Joakim Nygard (hand), James Neal (ankle)
Suspended: Zack Kassian

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Warren Foegele
Nino Niederreiter -- Erik Haula -- Martin Necas
Ryan Dzingel -- Lucas Wallmark -- Justin Williams
Jaccob Slavin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Jake Gardiner -- Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury -- Joel Edmundson
James Reimer
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: None
Injured: Dougie Hamilton (fractured leg), Jordan Martinook (upper body)

Status report

Smith is likely to start after Koskinen made 33 saves against Florida. ... Neither team was expected to have a morning skate.

Stat pack

The Oilers are 15-7-2 against Eastern Conference teams. ... Nugent-Hopkins has seven points (one goal, six assists) during a four-game point streak and 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 14 games against Carolina. ... The Hurricanes are 17-6-2 against Western Conference opponents. ... Staal has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 15 games against the Oilers, and Teravainen has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 11 games against them.