Oilers at Blues preview

OILERS (13-12-2) at BLUES (9-13-3)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS

McDavid missed a 4-1 loss at the Dallas Stars on Monday because of illness. It ended the fourth-year center's regular-season games-played streak at 222. The NHL scoring champion in each of the past two seasons is tied for sixth this season with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists).
The Oilers, 3-1-0 in their the past four games, will go with goaltender Cam Talbot after Mikko Koskinen started the past four games.
The Blues, 1-3-0 in the past four games and 2-6-0 in their past eight, are without injured forwards Jaden Schwartz (hand), Alexander Steen (concussion) and Robby Fabbri (shoulder), as well as defensemen Alex Pietrangelo (hand) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body).

Players to watch

McDavid has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.
Blues center Brayden Schenn has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 12 games against the Oilers.

They said it

"I know he hasn't seen much action, but if it wasn't for him in L.A. early (a 5-2 loss on Nov. 25), we would have been in real trouble. I like a lot of the things he does, quite frankly." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock on Cam Talbot
"We've got some guys hurt, there's always guys hurt [on] every team. You go up and down the League, you're going to have injuries. It's the same old story, an opportunity for other guys and chances for guys to step up and fill those holes." -- Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Milan Lucic -- Kyle Brodziak -- Zack Kassian
Patrick Russell -- Ryan Spooner -- Ty Rattie
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Kevin Gravel -- Matt Benning
Cam Talbot
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched:Jason Garrison, Chris Wideman, Valentin Zykov
Injured:Drake Caggiula (hand), Andrej Sekera (Achilles), Tobias Rieder (upper body)

Blues projected lineup

Zach Sanford -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Robert Thomas
David Perron -- Brayden Schenn --
Jordan Kyrou
Pat Maroon -- Tyler Bozak -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jordan Nolan
-- Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jay Bouwmeester --
Chris Butler
Jake Allen
Chad Johnson
Scratched:Jordan Schmaltz, Sammy Blais
Injured:Jaden Schwartz (hand), Alex Pietrangelo (hand), Alexander Steen (concussion), Robby Fabbri (shoulder), Carl Gunnarsson (upper body)

Status report

Spooner will play after missing the game at Dallas because of illness. Wideman will be a healthy scratch after the Oilers played with seven defensemen Monday. ... Steen, Schwartz and Gunnarsson all skated Wednesday morning and are getting closer to returning.

Stat pack

The Oilers are 4-2-1 since Ken Hitchcock replaced Todd McLellan as coach on Nov. 20. Hitchcock was 248-124-41 with the Blues from 2011-12 through 2016-17. Draisaitl has four assists during a four-game point streak and 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. ... O'Reilly has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games.