The Oilers are 7-1-0 in their past eight games and 8-2-1 under coach Ken Hitchcock, who replaced Todd McLellan on Nov. 20. Edmonton has outscored opponents 17-8 in that span and has allowed two goals or fewer in six of their past eight games Defenseman Darnell Nurse will replace Oscar Klefbom on the top pair. Klefbom sustained a hand injury in a 6-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. The Jets have won back-to-back games, outscoring their opponents 13-4. Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal for Winnipeg. He is 4-1-0 with a 2.19 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in his past five starts.
Players to watch
Oilers center Connor McDavid has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak and 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in his past 13 games. He is one point shy of 300 in the NHL. Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past nine games.
They said it
"I think guys are just feeling confident, feeling good about themselves. We're playing a good, solid team game all over the ice." -- Oilers center Connor McDavid "I think we went through it a number of years ago. When a coach gets fired and it kind of puts everyone on notice and can jumpstart you a little bit. Obviously (Ken Hitchcock is) an experienced coach. They've had some success so they're playing well." -- Jets forward Blake Wheeler on Edmonton's coaching change
Caggiula was activated from injured reserve Wednesday and will play after missing four games with a hand injury sustained in practice Dec. 3. … Rieder returns after missing 10 games because of an upper-body injury.
Stat pack
Draisaitl has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a three-game point streak. Nugent-Hopkins has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past four games. … Scheifele has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.
