Canucks at Oilers preview

CANUCKS ( 28-30-9) at OILERS (29-30-7)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, SNP, NHL.TV

The Oilers have won three in a row and are 5-1-1 in their past seven games following a five-game losing streak (0-4-1). They are even in points with the Canucks, seven points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card from the Western Conference entering the first of a four-game homestand.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for Edmonton.
Vancouver is playing the second of back-to-back games after rallying to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday and pull even with the Oilers. The Canucks are 2-4-2 in their past eight and haven't won back-to-back games since Jan. 18-20.
Jacob Markstrom, who made 28 saves against Toronto, is expected to start for Vancouver.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has nine goals and eight assists during an 11-game point streak, the longest active streak in the NHL.
Canucks center Elias Pettersson leads the NHL in rookie scoring with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 56 games. He has three points (one goal, two assists) in two games against Edmonton.

They said it

"We need to get back on the win train again and feel good about ourselves and have something to build on. It's a good bounce-back game from our last game, but we have to keep building, we have a big game [Thursday] against a tough opponent." -- Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom following a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday
"He's just shooting the puck so well. Obviously, he's playing well, but every time he seems to get a chance he finds a way to score. He's been playing great for us." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on teammate Leon Draisaitl

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Nikolay Goldobin
Josh Leivo -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Antoine Roussel -- Adam Gaudette -- Markus Granlund
Loui Eriksson -- Jay Beagle -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Alex Biega
Derrick Pouliot -- Troy Stecher
Ashton Sautner -- Luke Schenn
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Scratched: Guillaume Brisebois, Tim Schaller
Injured: Sven Baertschi (undisclosed), Brandon Sutter (sports hernia surgery), Jake Virtanen (upper body), Chris Tanev (ankle), Ryan Spooner (groin), Ben Hutton (foot)

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Sam Gagner -- Leon Draisaitl -- Alex Chiasson
Milan Lucic -- Colby Cave -- Josh Currie
Tobias Rieder -- Kyle Brodziak -- Brad Malone
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Andrej Sekera -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Kevin Gravel, Ty Rattie, Alexander Petrovic
Injured: Jujhar Khaira (undisclosed), Jesse Puljujarvi (hip surgery)

Status report

Vancouver did not have a morning skate. Edler will play his 800th NHL game … Khaira took part in the morning skate, but his status for the game was unknown.

Stat pack

Horvat has no points in his past four games and four points (three goals, one assist) in his past 10 games … McDavid has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past six games.