Oilers at Wild preview

OILERS (34-39-6) at WILD (43-25-10)
8 p.m. ET; FSN, SNW, NHL.TV

Minnesota will be without defenseman Ryan Suter, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury sustained in the second period of a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Suter will be replaced by Carson Soucy, who will make his NHL debut. He was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
The Oilers are on a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) but are 2-0-0 against the Wild this season. Edmonton looks for a sweep of the season series with the Wild for the first time since Minnesota entered the League in 2000.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Connor McDavid has 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in his past 18 games and a point in 15 of them. His 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists) lead Nikita Kucherov (97) and Evgeni Malkin (96) for the Art Ross Memorial Trophy given to the League's top scorer.
Wild forward Zach Parise has seven points (five goals, two assists) in a six-game point streak.

They said it

"Minnesota is desperate. …We'd like to finish the road part of our schedule off on a positive note. We've been close in the last couple but haven't been able to get there, so let's see what we're able to get done tonight." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan
"(Suter's) a good player and there's no doubt but every team, they lose good players and they have to come out and play, and we're no different here. We're going to put our best foot forward and we're going to play." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Oilers projected lineup

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

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Nino Niederreiter
Tyler Ennis -- Matt Cullen -- Charlie Coyle
Daniel Winnik -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno
Jonas Brodin -- Mathew Dumba
Nick Seeler -- Ryan Murphy
Carson Soucy -- Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Jordan Greenway
Injured:Luke Kunin (knee), Jared Spurgeon (hamstring), Ryan Suter (lower body), Gustav Olofsson (concussion)

Status report

Nugent-Hopkins did not skate but could return for the Oilers' final two home games. …Suter will have an MRI. … Spurgeon skated on his own and could join the Wild during their upcoming road trip. … Olofsson has not skated.

Stat pack

Draisaitl is second in scoring on the Oilers with 68 points (24 goals, 44 assists). He has two assists against Minnesota this season. …Dumba has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past eight games. … Dubnyk will play his 400th NHL game.