The Oilers have lost five in a row and need to catch a break. The Jackets have lost four of their last five and need to be better at even strength. This is a matchup of the two coldest teams in the league - it will probably go to a shootout.

Team Reports

Oilers Report: The Oilers will make even more lineup changes tonight, Nail Yakupov on the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins line and Eric Belanger back on the bottom line. Ralph Krueger has shuffled the defensive pairings and scratched Ryan Whitney. The Oilers are 29th in the league in faceoffs (how bad must Buffalo be?) and last in even strength shooting percentage. The Oilers power play seems downright docile as the zone-entries struggles continue.

Blue Jackets Report: The Jackets are the worst even strength team in the league and it's not close. James Wisniewski is back today to roll with Jack Johnson in the hopes of shoring up the even strength defense. The Blue Jackets' special teams haven't been bad, but the power play is struggling lately. Brandon Dubinsky has been outstanding in an early sheltered role.

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Nail Yakupov - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Ben Eager - Ryan Smyth - Lennart Petrell

Teemu Hartikainen - Eric Belanger - Magnus Paajarvi

Justin Schultz - Nick Schultz

Ladislav Smid - Corey Potter

Mark Fistric - Jeff Petry

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ryan Whitney, Darcy Hordichuk, , Theo Peckham is on assignment

Broadcast Information

By The Numbers