Oilers at Wild preview

OILERS (13-17-2) at WILD (17-11-3)
2 p.m. ET; FS-N, SNW, NHL.TV

Edmonton has alternated wins and losses in the seven games since Talbot last played in an overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 28. The Oilers have been shut out in two of their past three games after a 4-0 home loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Minnesota has won four straight games, matching its longest winning streak this season. The Wild have won five straight home games and are 12-4-1 since Nov. 9, tied for first in wins with and second in points to the Predators in that span.
With goalie Devan Dubnyk (lower body) out week to week, Alex Stalock made 28 saves in a 2-0 shutout against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Players to watch

Edmonton forward Connor McDavid has 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in his past 13 games. He has two goals, one assist and is minus-3 in six games against Minnesota.
Minnesota forward Eric Staal has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past 15 games. He has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 15 games against Edmonton.

They said it

"I feel great now. It wasn't anything serious but it was something that could have materialized into something worse and it was something we could nip in the bud right away. I figure it was better to take a couple of weeks now, get better and get back on the ice with the boys, and I feel great." -- Oilers goalie Cam Talbot
"We're going to have to be great defensively against them. I mean, [they] threw 46 shots at Nashville yesterday, and Nashville's a hard team to get 46 shots on. So you know, they're coming … I really worry about teams that struggle the night before. I mean, we've had this at one point where we seem to play a team that got shut out the night before, and every time they do that, they come in, and they go, they start scoring again." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Oilers projected lineup

Milan Lucic -- Connor McDavid -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Pat Maroon -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Michael Cammalleri
Jujhar Khaira -- Leon Draisaitl -- Ryan Strome
Anton Slepyshev -- Mark Letestu -- Zack Kassian
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Oscar Klefbom -- Matt Benning
Brandon Davidson -- Yohann Auvitu
Cam Talbot
Laurent Brossoit
Scratched: Drake Caggiula, Eric Gryba, Nathan Walker
Injured: Adam Larsson (upper body), Andrej Sekera (knee)

Wild projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Zack Mitchell
Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Cullen -- Charlie Coyle
Tyler Ennis -- Daniel Winnik -- Chris Stewart
Ryan Suter -- Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin -- Ryan Murphy
Mike Reilly -- Nate Prosser
Alex Stalock
Steve Michalek
Scratched: Marcus Foligno, Gustav Olofsson
Injured: Devan Dubnyk (lower body), Zach Parise (back), Jared Spurgeon (groin)

Status report

Boudreau said Spurgeon will be a game-time decision after saying, "Oh, he can play," when asked about the defenseman's possible return. Spurgeon has missed eight games. ... Parise practiced Friday for the first time since back surgery on Oct. 24 but hasn't been cleared for contact.

Stat pack

Minnesota has a point in 14 of the past 17 games against Edmonton since Dec. 29, 2011 (13-3-1). Minnesota's 110 points and 50 wins against the Oilers are its most against any opponent. ... Talbot is 2-4-1 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in seven starts against the Wild. ... Stalock is 2-1-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in three starts against the Oilers.