Oilers at Avalanche
One day after relinquishing second place in the Pacific Division, the Edmonton Oilers look to avoid falling into a wild-card spot in the Western Conference when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Edmonton had its four-game winning streak halted Wednesday as it dropped a 4-3 decision at Anaheim to fall two points behind the Ducks in the Pacific.
The Oilers enter Thursday one point ahead of division-rival Calgary, which holds the first wild card in the West, but have not given up on the Pacific crown as they trail first-place San Jose by four points with nine games remaining. Captain Connor McDavid owns a four-point lead over Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby in the race for the Art Ross Trophy after registering a goal and two assists against Anaheim to raise his total to 85 points. League-worst Colorado is coming off its third straight loss, a 4-2 home setback against St. Louis on Tuesday. John Mitchell recorded a goal and an assist, giving him three points in as many games after registering four over his first 60 contests this season.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE OILERS (39-25-9): McDavid is riding a five-game point streak during which he has collected three goals and seven assists. Mark Letestu set a new career high Wednesday with his 15th goal of the season, eclipsing the mark he set in 2010-11 with Pittsburgh, and is two points shy of matching the personal best of 34 he recorded in 2013-14 while playing for Columbus. Leon Draisaitl brings a streak of five consecutive multi-point performances into Thursday's contest after notching a goal and an assist against the Ducks to give him two tallies and nine assists during the run.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (20-49-3): Matt Duchene has gone three games without a point, keeping him tied with Valeri Kamensky for 10th place on the franchise list with 414. The 26-year-old Duchene leads the team with 17 tallies and is three shy of his fourth straight 20-goal season. Nathan MacKinnon tops Colorado with 45 points but has recorded just one in his last six contests and is two shy of 200 for his career.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche LW Blake Comeau is riding a five-game home point streak.
2. Thursday's contest is the second and final road game of the month for Edmonton, which began March with an eight-game homestand (5-2-1) and finishes it with three straight at Rogers Place.
3. Colorado is 3-for-48 on the power play over its last 20 games.