Oilers at Sharks preview

OILERS (13-6-3) at SHARKS (10-10-1)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNW, NHL.TV

San Jose has outscored opponents 25-17 in its six straight victories following a five-game losing streak. The Sharks, who can win seven consecutive games for the first time since doing so from Jan. 2-15, 2019, won 6-3 at Edmonton on Nov. 12.
The Oilers seek to win for the sixth time in 10 games (5-2-2). Forward Leon Draisaitl can tie the longest point streak in the NHL this season at 13 games; he has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in a 12-game point streak.
Draisaitl leads the NHL in scoring with 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists), ahead of center and linemate Connor McDavid, who is second with 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists), each in 22 games.

Players to watch

McDavid, named NHL First Star of the week Monday, has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Sharks center Logan Couture has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in the past five games.

They said it

"They're a team that generate a lot off the point shot. You cover them down low and they rim pucks out to their D, and their forwards are very elite on getting sticks on pucks and getting redirection on pucks when they come to the net. They have a really good recipe here that they've been using for a lot of years." -- Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse on the Sharks
"We decided it was time to start playing the right way. … Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in order to get things going the right way. As least last year it was like that and hopefully this year, we're doing the same thing." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Oilers projected lineup

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

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier -- Tomas Hertl -- Barclay Goodrow
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Patrick Marleau
Lukas Radil -- Dylan Gambrell -- Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon -- Mario Ferraro
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Tim Heed
Injured: Dalton Prout (upper body)

Status report

Larsson is on the road trip with Edmonton and could return to the lineup Thursday at the Los Angeles Kings. He has missed 21 games after being injured blocking a shot in the season opener. … Edmonton reassigned defenseman Joel Persson to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Monday to make room for Larsson on the roster once he is activated off injured reserve.

Stat pack

Nugent-Hopkins is three points shy of 400 in the NHL. … Hertl has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past six games. … Meier has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past six games.