Panthers at Oilers preview
Florida seeks to extend point streak to eight; Edmonton aims to remain undefeated at home
by Derek Van Diest / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
PANTHERS (4-2-4) at OILERS (8-2-1)
4 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-F, NHL.TV
The Game
The Edmonton Oilers will look to stay perfect at home when they host the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place on Sunday.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for Edmonton, which is 5-0-0 at home following a 4-3 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday when they trailed by two goals in the third period.
Koskinen is 5-0-0 with a 2.35 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will start for Florida, which is on a seven-game point streak (3-0-4).
The Panthers are playing the second of a four-game road trip. They lost 6-5 to the Calgary Flames in a shootout Thursday.
Players to watch
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the past nine games, including at least a point in eight of them.
Oilers center Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists against the Capitals to end a three-game point drought. He has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 11 games this season.
They said it
"What we've learned over these past few games is that no lead is safe. When we have the lead we have to keep it and when we're down by a few goals we have to crawl back and I think we've been doing a good job of that." -- Panthers forward Frank Vatrano
"Good teams have confidence in themselves. Good teams have the confidence that they can come back, but it's more with how you're playing. If you feel you're playing a decent game, you're not just holding on, then you feel like you can come back." -- Oilers coach Dave Tippett on the come-from-behind win against the Capitals
Panthers projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Brian Boyle -- Brett Connolly
Frank Vatrano -- Denis Malgin -- Mark Pysyk
Dryden Hunt -- Noel Acciari -- Colton Sceviour
MacKenzie Weegar -- Aaron Ekblad
Riley Stillman -- Anton Stralman
Keith Yandle -- Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Jayce Hawryluk
Injured: Vincent Trocheck (undisclosed), Mike Matheson (undisclosed)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Alex Chiasson -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- James Neal
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Tomas Jurco -- Markus Granlund -- Sam Gagner
Oscar Klefbom -- Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Brandon Manning -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched: William Lagesson, Gaetan Haas
Injured: Adam Larsson (leg), Joakim Nygard (rib), Joel Persson (concussion), Josh Archibald (foot)
Status report
Pysyk, a defenseman who scored his first goal of the season against Calgary playing as a forward on the third line, will remain there in the lineup. … Archibald was put on injured reserve with a right-foot fracture and is expected to be out 2-4 weeks. ... Edmonton recalled Haas from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Saturday. ... The Panthers acquired forward Jack Rodewald from the Ottawa Senators for forward prospect Christopher Wilkie on Saturday.
Stat pack
Barkov, who had four assists against Calgary, has nine assists in his past five games. … Malgin has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Draisaitl had two goals and an assist in the win against Washington.