Oilers at Wild preview

OILERS (18-11-4) at WILD (14-12-5)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, SNOL, NHL.TV

The 23-year-old made 31 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. He was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Nov. 20 while goalie Devan Dubnyk tended to family matters.
Minnesota has lost two straight games (0-1-1) but is 7-1-3 in its past 11.
Goalie Mike Smith will start for the Oilers, who have lost two in a row (0-1-1) and three of four (1-2-1). Edmonton is 2-4-1 in its past seven games.
Oilers forward James Neal will play in his 800th NHL game.

Players to watch

Oilers center Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 55 points (19 goals, 36 assists), one ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl (19 goals, 35 assists).
Wild forward Zach Parise has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past eight games and 12 points (eight assists, four assists) in his past 13.

They said it

"They're always good in this rink. It's tough barn to play in. I think for us, it's more about ourselves. We have to get back to our winning ways and the way we have played throughout the year. We have to get back in the win column, we have to get back to doing the little things, all the simple things that makes us a good fast team and have a bounce-back win for us tonight." -- Oilers forward James Neal
"(Kahkonen's) resilient. He'll let a couple goals in and then he'll shut the door. I think he's deserved another shot today. So I mean, we have to find out about these guys. We'll find out tonight, another big test (against Edmonton)." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau on starting Kaapo Kahkonen

Oilers projected lineup

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

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise - Ryan Donato -- Kevin Fiala
Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Marcus Foligno -- Victor Rask -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter - Mathew Dumba
Carson Soucy -- Jonas Brodin
Brennan Menell -- Brad Hunt
Kaapo Kahkonen
Alex Stalock
Scratched:Nick Seeler, Gerald Mayhew, Devan Dubnyk
Injured:Jared Spurgeon (upper body), Mikko Koivu (lower body), Greg Pateryn (lower body)

Status report

Minnesota recalled Mayhew from Iowa on Wednesday. … Dubnyk hopes to make the road trip next week, Boudreau said. His playing status remains unknown. ...Staal is a game-time decision following an apparent injury Tuesday but is expected to play.

Stat pack

The Oilers are first in the NHL on the power play (31.6 percent) and have scored on the man-advantage in each of their past five games. …The Wild are on a season-high 10-game point streak (7-0-3) at home, their longest since a team-best 13 games (10-0-3) from Dec. 27, 2017 to Feb. 13, 2018.