Oilers at Avalanche preview

OILERS (16-7-3) at AVALANCHE (13-8-2)
10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ALT, SNW, NHL.TV

McDavid has 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) during his 11-game streak and is second in the NHL with 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists), one point behind linemate Leon Draisaitl (16 goals, 32 assists).
McDavid had an NHL career-high six points (three goals, three assists) in a 6-2 win against Colorado on Nov. 14.
The Oilers have won two straight games and are 3-1-0 in the first four games of a five-game road trip. Edmonton is 6-2-1 in its past nine after going 2-3-1 in its previous six games.
The Avalanche have lost two games in a row after going 5-1-0 in their previous six.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in his past 16 games. Draisaitl and McDavid are the first NHL teammates to have at least 45 points through 26 games since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.
Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky has nine points (six goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"This is a good challenge for us. I like the way we've played for the most part on this trip and we have to continue that tonight." -- Oilers coach Dave Tippett
"They're part of the top players in the league so every time you play them it's quite a challenge to compete as hard as you can and try to keep them to a lower score. It's fun, though." -- Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on playing against McDavid and Draisaitl

Oilers projected lineup

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

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Avalanche projected lineup

Andre Burakovsky -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Joonas Donskoi
Tyson Jost -- Nazem Kadri -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Valeri Nichushkin
Logan O'Connor -- Vladislav Kamenev -- T.J. Tynan
Nikita Zadorov -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Calle Rosen
Ryan Graves -- Ian Cole
Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz
Scratched: Mark Barberio
Injured:Matt Calvert (head), Erik Johnson (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (lower body), Colin Wilson (lower body)

Status report

Khaira will play after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. … Bednar said he hopes Rantanen will return against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. ... Johnson will be re-evaluated after the weekend. ... Rosen will make his Avalanche debut after being recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Koskinen is 4-0-2 in his past six decisions. ... MacKinnon has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past six games. … Makar has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.