Flames at Oilers preview

FLAMES (19-15-5) at OILERS (20-16-4)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, NHL.TV

Lucic played the previous three seasons with Edmonton before he was traded to Calgary on July 19 for forward James Neal and a conditional third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 37 games during his first season with the Flames, who are 1-3-1 in their past five games after a seven-game winning streak.
Neal will play his first game against the Flames. He played one season in Calgary before being traded to Edmonton. Neal has 23 points (16 goals, seven assists) in 40 games for the Oilers, who are 2-6-1 in their past nine.
Goalie David Rittich will start for Calgary and Mikko Koskinen will start for Edmonton.

Players to watch

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games

They said it

"I spent three years here, some good, some bad. But all in all, I enjoyed my time here and it's nice to be back in Edmonton." -- Flames forward Milan Lucic
"Obviously last year was hard and for whatever reason it wasn't a fit. I felt like I wasn't getting that chance and as a player you want that chance. I got that here and it's gone well." -- Oilers forward James Neal

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Mikael Backlund
Matthew Tkachuk -- Elias Lindholm -- Andrew Mangiapane
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington -- Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Tobias Rieder, Michael Stone, Zac Rinaldo
Injured: None

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
James Neal -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Josh Archibald
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Joakim Nygard -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Kris Russell -- Caleb Jones
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched:Brandon Manning, Sam Gagner, Markus Granlund
Injured: Matt Benning (head)

Status report

Frolik was a healthy scratch for the past two games and Jankowski has been a healthy scratch in three of the past four. Talbot will be the backup in his first game against Edmonton with Calgary. His next appearance will be his 300th in the NHL. … Smith will be the backup in his first game with Edmonton against Calgary. Each goalie signed as a free agent on July 1.

Stat pack

Lindholm has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past three games. Gaudreau has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past five games. … McDavid has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past eight games.