Oilers at Blue Jackets preview

OILERS (8-4-1) at BLUE JACKETS (5-4-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-O, SN-1, SN360, NHL.TV

The Oilers are 1-3-1 in their past five games after a 7-1-0 start, including losing their past two games by a combined score of 9-3.
The Blue Jackets were 4-0-2 in six games prior to a 7-4 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past three games. He needs one assist for 200 in the NHL.
Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones has four points (one goal, three assists) in a four-game point streak.

They said it

"Right from the drop of the puck we need to play with a little bit of fire, especially in that first period because we always get off to a slow start."-- Oilers forward Zack Kassian
"That was our first bad game in a really long time. I'm not going to overthink it, over-analyze it. You just move past it. That's not characteristic of who we are, and we'll make sure we'll come out with a real good effort." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno on responding to the loss to the Flyers

Oilers projected lineup

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

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Nick Foligno -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Gustav Nyquist -- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Sonny Milano -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Jakob Lilja -- Riley Nash -- Emil Bemstrom
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Markus Nutivaara -- Dean Kukan
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched:Scott Harrington
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Alexandre Texier (knee), Ryan Murray (hand)

Status report

Smith starts after Koskinen played Tuesday. … Oilers coach Dave Tippett said Wednesday that several injured players could return to the lineup. … Nutivaara returns after missing two games with a lower-body injury. … Murray and Texier were injured against the Flyers.

Stat pack

McDavid has five points (one goal, four assists) in a three-game point streak. … Nugent-Hopkins has not scored in six games. … The Oilers are 5-0-0 when scoring first. … The Blue Jackets are 5-1-2 in games decided by one goal and 5-0-0 when scoring first. … Jenner has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games. … Dubois has five goals in his past eight games. … Bjorkstrand needs one point for 100 in the NHL. … Korpisalo plays his 100th NHL game. … Nash is one assist shy of 100 in the NHL.