The Oilers wrap up their short two-game road trip tonight with a matchup against the St. Louis Blues.
You can watch the game across Canada on Sportsnet or listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game at STL
PRE-GAME RAW | Khaira
PRE-GAME RAW | Spooner
PRE-GAME RAW | Lucic
PRE-GAME RAW | Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock
BY THE NUMBERS
Stats Comparison: Oilers vs. Blues
Media Game Notes: Oilers vs. Blues
2018-19 Oilers Player Statistics
2018-19 Blues Player Statistics
Head-to-Head: Oilers vs. Blues
2018-19 NHL Standings
RECENT VIDEOS
THE PANEL | Curveball
OILERS TODAY | McDavid Returns
RAW | Ken Hitchcock
RAW | McDavid
RAW | Talbot
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Talbot to tend the twine Wednesday
BLOG: Captain Connor 'feeling a lot better'
BLOG: Another homecoming for Hitch
BLOG: New Seattle NHL team to join Oilers division
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Injury Report
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Inside The Oilers Blog

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Tuesday's Oilers practice and media availability from St. Louis.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

MORNING SKATE REPORT

ST. LOUIS, MO - The Oilers will have three returns to the lineup tonight when they close out their mini two-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues.
Up front, both Connor McDavid and Ryan Spooner will be back after missing Monday's game in Dallas. And between the pipes, Cam Talbot will make his first start since Nov. 25 in Los Angeles.
Talbot will look to continue the positive momentum he created for himself in the Kings matchup, as he turned aside 27 of 30 shots - many of them high-quality scoring chances - but unfortunately didn't pick up the win as the home team potted a pair of empty-netters and claimed a 5-2 decision.
"I've been feeling good in practice, just working on a few things every day," the netminder said following Tuesday's practice at Enterprise Center. "I'm trying to work out those bugs and be ready for a game whenever I get it."
Talbot is 5-9-1 on the season with a 3.29 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage. Head Coach Ken Hitchcock is confident he can regain his career-average form (2.54 GAA, .917 save percentage) and give the Oilers two viable options between the pipes along with Mikko Koskinen, who has been stellar this season.
"He's good, Koski's good and they compete like heck at practice," Hitchcock said following Wednesday's morning skate. "(Cam) is just such a competitive guy, he never quits on any puck and that's what you like. He's a battler. I know he hasn't seen much action, but if it wasn't for him in LA early, we would have been in big trouble. I like a lot of the things he does."
KHAIRA'S OPPORTUNITY
With McDavid and Spooner out the lineup on Monday, leaving them with just 11 healthy forwards, the Oilers had some challenges generating offence and dropped a 4-1 decision.
However, one player who did break through was Jujhar Khaira, picking up his long-awaited first tally of the season in the third period. The power forward found the back of the net 11 times in 69 games last season, so he was admittedly a bit relieved to bury his first of the current campaign and hopes it can snowball into many more.
"It's definitely a weight off your shoulders," Khaira said. "It's your job, and one of those things is producing. First line through fourth line, everybody has to pitch in. It was nice to get it out of the way. I was losing some sleep over it, but now I just try to build off it and continue playing like I am."
The 24-year-old has a modest two-game point streak going and played 14:36 on Monday in Dallas - by far his highest TOI under Hitchcock, who has observed steady improvement in the winger's game of late.
"When he plays like he did in the last two games, I like a lot of his game," the bench boss said. "He plays north with tempo, he's got reach, he's got range, he's got size, he's got toughness, he's got everything you like. But he's got to play with real tempo going north. When he plays sideways, he lets other peoples' quickness take place. He's a guy that could really turn into a good winger for me."
As a result of his enhanced play, Khaira will line up on the team's second line tonight in St. Louis, playing on the left side of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, with Jesse Puljujarvi on the right.
"It should be fun, they're both great players," Khaira said. "I'm excited to go out there and play with them… I'm going to try to get in on the forecheck, create some room, create loose pucks for those guys to make their plays and go to the net hard."
LINEUP NOTES
The Oilers will be getting McDavid and Spooner back in the lineup tonight, but unfortunately another forward will be unavailable against the Blues as Drake Caggiula is dealing with a minor hand injury.
Thus, Patrick Russell will play his second game in a row after getting recalled from the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday, due to waiver pickup Valetin Zykov's arrival getting delayed by immigration issues.
Here is the full projected lineup for tonight vs. St. Louis:
Draisaitl - McDavid - Chiasson
Khaira - RNH - Puljujarvi
Lucic - Brodziak - Kassian
Russell- Spooner - Rattie
Defence:
Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Gravel - Benning
Goal:
Talbot
Koskinen
-- Ryan Frankson, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS (13-12-2) at BLUES (9-13-3)
TV: 6:00 p.m. MST; Televised on Sportsnet
Head-to-Head:
Tonight's game is the first of three meetings between the Oilers and Blues. They'll meet again on December 18 in Edmonton.
Last year, the Blues won twice and Oilers won once in the three meetings. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists in three games to lead the Oilers in assists and points against St. Louis. Brayden Schenn had eight points (four goals) in three games for the Blues.
Oilers team scope:
The Oilers had won three straight games before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Monday night. They are three points behind the San Jose Sharks for the third place in the Pacific Division while also holding a game in hand.
Connor McDavid continues to lead the team in scoring with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 26 games. McDavid missed Monday's game due to an illness but stated on Tuesday that he expects to play tonight.
Cam Talbot is expected to get the start tonight. He has a 5-9-1 record in 15 starts with a 3.29 goals-against average and .889 save percentage.
Blues team scope:
The Blues have dropped three of their last four games, including a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes this past Saturday. They haven't played since that game. They are tied for last in the Western Conference (and NHL) with 21 points and a 9-13-3 record. St. Louis is 11 points back of the final playoff spot in the West, which is the Minnesota Wild who hold the second wild card spot with 32 points.
Ryan O'Reilly leads the Blues with 28 points through 25 games. He's also tops on the club with 12 goals. O'Reilly is also second in the team in plus/minus with a +5 rating. Defenceman Colton Parayko is +6 and has seven points in 25 games.
By the Numbers:
The Blues are 9-1-1 this season when leading after two periods and 0-11-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. ... Oilers are 5-1-0 when leading after two and 2-9-1 when trailing after two.
Considering the Blues are tied for last in the NHL standings, their power play and penalty kill are both respectable. The Blues power play is 9th in the NHL at 23.8% and the penalty kill is 10th at 81.7%. ... Blues have a +5 goal differential in the first period, -2 goal differential in the second and -12 in the third. Oilers have a -6 goal differential in the first, -12 in the second and +2 in the third.
Blues are 4-4-0 versus the Pacific Division and Oilers are 5-4-0 against the Central.
Injury Report:
OILERS - Andrej Sekera (achilles) is out; Tobias Rieder (upper body) is out; Connor McDavid (illness) is probable; Ryan Spooner (illness) is probable
BLUES - Erik Foley (concussion) is on IR; Carl Gunnarsson (upper body) is day-to-day; Jaden Schwartz (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Alex Pietrangelo (hand) is on IR; Alex Steen (concussion) is day-to-day; Robby Fabbri (shoulder) is on IR
-- Marc Ciampa, EdmontonOilers.com