After opening their current road trip with a 3-2 loss to the Sabres in Buffalo on Monday, the Edmonton Oilers (37-23-4) will get their next chance to earn a win against the New Jersey Devils (35-25-6) at the Prudential Center on Thursday night.
The Oilers have gone through a rough patch since regular NHL play resumed after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament earlier this winter. Since then, the hockey club has gone 3-6-0.
In their last 10 games, the Oilers have a record of 3-7-0. In that stretch the team has scored an average of 2.9 goals per game while giving up an average of four goals per game. The Devils have fared slightly better over their last 10 games, going 5-5-0.
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Edmonton centre Leon Draisaitl is currently on a 15-game point streak while Oilers blue liner Evan Boucard is riding a five-game point streak.
The Devils have a 16-11-4 record when playing in New Jersey this season, while the Oilers have gone 17-12-2 on the road.
Jeff Skinner, who drew back into the Oilers’ lineup against the Sabres after being a healthy scratch for three games, is expected to play again on Thursday. The team said forward Mattias Janmark has been dealing with an illness but the club is hopeful he can play in the game against the Devils.
Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch has said it is doubtful that defencemen Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg — both of whom are dealing with injuries — will be able to play on the team’s current road trip. Stuart Skinner is expected to be the Oilers’ starting goaltender on Thursday night.
Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse is expected to play in his 700th career regular-season NHL game on Thursday.
The Devils, who are already without superstar centre Jack Hughes because of a season-ending shoulder injury, announced more bad injury news on Thursday. The team said its No. 1 defenceman, Dougie Hamilton, is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with an undisclosed lower-body injury.
–with files from The Associated Press