Canadiens at Oilers preview

CANADIENS (9-5-3) at OILERS (8-8-1)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Oilers, outscored 17-6 during their skid, will try for an offensive spark by playing center Connor McDavid and forward Leon Draisaitl on the same line for the first time this season.
McDavid, who has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer the past two seasons, has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 17 games, and is tied for fourth in the League in scoring. Draisaitl, Edmonton's second-leading scorer, has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 17 games.
Backup goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for the Oilers; he's 3-1-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average in five games (four starts).
Backup goalie Antti Niemi will make his second straight start for the Canadiens, 5-4-1 in their past 10 games. Montreal has scored at least four goals in four of their past six games.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Max Domi has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak, and leads Montreal with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 17 games.
Draisaitl has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past nine games.

They said it

"They're both great goalies, it doesn't matter who's in net, we have to do the job in front of them and help our goalies out as much as we can and help them do their job." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher on goalie Antti Niemi getting the start
"Every time the coach says I'm in, I need to show them that I can do the job. That's no different today." -- Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen on starting against Montreal

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Kenny Agostino -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Artturi Lehkonen
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Matthew Peca -- Charles Hudon
Jordie Benn -- Victor Mete
David Schlemko -- Jeff Petry
Noah Juulsen -- Mike Reilly
Antti Niemi
Carey Price
Scratched: Karl Alzner, Xavier Ouellet
Injured: Shea Weber (knee), Joel Armia (lower body), Paul Byron (lower body)

Oilers projected lineup

Drake Caggiula -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl
Tobias Rieder -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Alex Chiasson
Milan Lucic -- Ryan Strome -- Ty Rattie
Jujhar Khaira -- Kyle Brodziak -- Zack Kassian
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Matt Benning
Kris Russell -- Kevin Gravel
Mikko Koskinen
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Cooper Marody, Jason Garrison
Injured: Andrej Sekera (Achilles)

Status report

Juulsen will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games … Schlemko is playing his second game after missing the first 16 with a knee injury.

Stat pack

Tatar has four goals in his past three games. … Drouin has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games. … McDavid has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past 11 games and is three goals from 100 in the NHL.