Oilers at Senators
THE STORY: The Ottawa Senators snapped a pronounced losing skid in their last time out. The Edmonton Oilers would like to do the same on Saturday afternoon. The Senators ended their seven-game losing skid on Thursday with a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Playing in his 1,000th NHL game, defenseman Chris Phillips netted a pair of goals in the triumph. For its part, Edmonton has dropped eight in a row on the road and 15 of its last 16. The Oilers will do their best to alleviate their woes when they invade Canada's capital city.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, CBC
ABOUT THE OILERS (21-28-5): To no one's surprise, Sam Gagner was named the NHL's First Star of the Week. After all, Gagner rode an impressive eight-point performance to the honor. Gagner has collected six goals and seven assists in his last five games, but sat out Edmonton's 5-2 home loss to Ottawa on Nov. 17 with a balky back. Top overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins suffered his second shoulder injury of the season. The team detailed that the 18-year-old Hall will likely be sidelined for seven-to-10 days.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (28-22-7): All-Star Jason Spezza recorded a pair of goals and an assist in Thursday's victory. While Spezza detailed his own team's troubles with the following statement, the Oilers most likely can relate. "It’s tough to stop losing streaks and we did that tonight,” Spezza said. “When you’re winning games it seems like it’s easy to win them, and when you’re losing games it seems like you keep finding a way to lose," Spezza said. "So to dig ourselves out of that hole (Thursday), hopefully we can springboard it and have a good one on Saturday.”
OVERTIME:
1. All-Star Jordan Eberle has collected seven goals in as many games. The 21-year-old Eberle leads the Oilers with 24 tallies this season, but has failed to score in three career meetings with the Senators.
2. Ottawa is 10-2-0 with a tie in the last 13 meetings with Edmonton.