Oilers at Panthers preview

OILERS (30-35-5) at PANTHERS (35-26-7)
2 p.m. ET; FS-F, SNW, NHL.TV

The Panthers, 9-1-1 in their past 11 games and 16-4-1 in their past 21, trail the New Jersey Devils by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and are four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card. Florida has played two fewer games than New Jersey and three fewer than Columbus.
The Oilers, 3-4-1 in their past eight games, are 19 points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot is 3-1-0 with a 1.48 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in his past four starts.
Panthers center Vincent Trocheck has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"Throughout the whole year we wanted to find that consistency. … Lately it's been a little bit better, but we've still got to play the full 60 minutes and bring the same effort every night." -- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
"The reason we're in a playoff race is because of what we've done at home. If you stand back and look at our home record in the last little while, you have to be happy about it. The key is going to be trying to replicate that on the road." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner on Florida's 9-1-0 record in its past 10 home games

Oilers projected lineup

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

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Frank Vatrano
Jamie McGinn -- Jared McCann -- Denis Malgin
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Connor Brickley, Radim Vrbata, Maxim Mamin
Injured: Alexander Petrovic (lower body)

Status report

Aberg did not practice Friday and will not play; Oilers coach Todd McLellan said Russell, who was injured blocking a shot in a 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, was very doubtful. … Petrovic, who missed a 3-0 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, skated Friday and will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Edmonton has won eight straight at BB&T Center dating to March 8, 2002. … Barkov (seven goals, 16 assists) and Dadonov (10 goals, 13 assists) each has 23 points in his past 16 games. … Florida has scored at least four goals in five of its past seven games.