The Edmonton Oilers welcome the Montreal Canadiens to Rogers Place for a 5:00 p.m. MT matchup on Hockey Night In Canada.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet 360 or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 4:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. MTL
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Brett Kulak
PRE-GAME RAW | Brad Malone
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BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Canadiens Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
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VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Saturday's game on Sportsnet 360 at 5:00 p.m. MT.

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - Les Habitants always bring with them a charged atmosphere to Rogers Place when they make their journey west to Alberta.
"I think you kind of approach every opponent the same, but obviously we're well aware of the following that Montreal has," forward Brad Malone said. "So yeah, I know it's going to be a good test."
The Montreal Canadiens ran out winners in the first leg of their four-game Western Conference road trip, defeating the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Friday night for their third straight road win. Now they'll be pitted against the Edmonton Oilers, who'll open up a four-game homestand at Rogers Place on Hockey Night in Canada tonight.
With another one-goal victory over the Flames, the Canadiens improved to 8-0-1 in one-goal games this season, with their eight wins being tied for the most in the NHL in that regard.
Montreal this season is 12-10-1 through 23 games after having half as many wins at this point last campaign (6-15-2), which is good enough for the fourth-best points percentage improvement in the NHL from last season.
"A young, hungry group that wants to make the playoffs and that's not content with just being a young, exciting team," forward Zach Hyman said of the Canadiens. "They want to take that next step and there'll be a good test for us."
The Oilers are coming off a three-game New York road trip and back-to-back games against the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild that had a home game against the Florida Panthers sandwiched in between them, giving off the feeling of an extended six-game road trip.

"This stretch has been a little bit crazier than most with the out east, come home and go back out, but it's nice to be home for a little bit," Hyman said. "So it's re-energizing to know that you're going to be home for the next ten or so days."
Last time out for the Oilers, the energy seemed to dwindle near the midway point of the second period of an eventual 5-3 loss to the Wild that included late consolation for forward Klim Kostin in his first Oilers goal. Despite the loss coming in a game that came at the tail end of some tough travel, it was still a winnable contest for the Oilers that easily could've swung in their direction.
"We're coming off a three-game win streak. We lost one in Minnesota that we felt was a winnable game under tough circumstances," Woodcroft said. "I looked up at the shot clock halfway through the game, or actually more than halfway through, and I saw ten shots against. That's a good thing for us, but we didn't end up getting the result."
As for maintaining the energy levels in the Oilers dressing room heading into a good challenge and start to an extended homestand, making sure the right decisions have been made when it comes to their recovery and maintenance is at the top of the list.

"Preparation, really," Malone said. "Honestly, you kind of have to take it day by day. I know that's kind of a cliché thing to say, but if you start looking ahead and trying to save something in the gas tank for the next game, you're not focused or present. So obviously everyone in the league is kind of going through the same thing at certain times during the year."
"This has been a tough stretch for us, but we've done a pretty good job of managing workload away from game time and just mentally trying to stay as fresh as possible. So it is what it is."
MAN UP FOR MORE MINUTES
The Oilers continue to call upon their depth options to play big roles for the club in the absence of some regular contributors.
"Going back to the game in Tampa, we lost two top-nine forwards in Kane and Yamo," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We haven't seen either of them back in the lineup. That opened up an opportunity, and then obviously in McLeod and Foegele, two more top-nine forwards went down in New York. That has opened up opportunities for people."
The Oilers assembled third line of Derek Ryan, Devin Shore and Kostin each played nearly 14 minutes in the loss to Minnesota and combined for a consolation goal late in the game.
Forward Mattias Janmark is filling a top-six role, recording a goal and assist in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks and looks poised to continue that with Kane and Yamamoto out of the lineup. The latter has been practicing with the team for the past week but remains out tonight against Montreal.

Until some healthy bodies are available to return to the Oilers lineup, those extra minutes and responsibilities will need to be split amongst the group.
"You like playing. When you're out there, you don't really think about how much you're playing or if you're playing a lot," Hyman said. "You're in the game and you want to be out there, right? So it's tough missing guys who are impactful in our lineup. Obviously, the big group of forwards we have out, we have four guys (missing) which is a lot, but I think that everybody's kind of pulling their weight and stepping up to the challenge."
Ultimately, it can help strengthen the group and contribute to some extra confidence from the players taking on a larger piece of the pie.
"But what I think it does is makes you stronger in the long run, because what it's forcing people to do is find solutions and you learn a lot about people that are in your lineup," Woodcroft said. "So I think it's a positive situation. As I said, we're looking to prepare for a team in the Montreal Canadians that's coming off a strong wing versus Calgary. We know we're going to have our hands full."
KULAK HAPPY COMING HOME
Defenceman Brett Kulak, the one-time Montreal blueliner, has been more than happy with his decision to sign long-term in Edmonton to stay close to his home of Stony Plain.
Even last night, Kulak was back at his old local rink of Glenn Hall Arena in his hometown signing autographs and making an appearance at a minor hockey tournament much to the delight of the young players. It was the perfect reminder of why he decided to remain an Edmonton Oiler this offseason.
"I think my parents watch every game and just it's nice seeing for them to watch me and see me out there in lots of situations playing lots. It's more exciting for them, even just watching the games," Kulak said.
"And just last night even, I go back to my hometown and there's a minor hockey league tournament starting this weekend. So I just went and saw a bunch of the kids and just how excited they were to be able to go back to the rink I grew up playing in and see the excitement of those kids who are in the exact same spot I was in not too long ago. It's stuff like that. It's really special. I'm very happy to be playing at home."

But the idea of returning to Montreal this offseason after being dealt by the Quebec side at the trade deadline to Edmonton wasn't far off.
"We spoke back and forth a few times, and, yeah, it was definitely one of the options," Kulak said. "I had a great time in Montreal all over my seasons there and we had a lot of fun. It's a great team, and I think they're heading the right direction and I think it's going to happen sooner than some people might think that they're doing so well. So it was definitely a real option."
But Kulak assured himself that wherever he ended up signing, earning an important role on the back end was the one thing we wanted to guarantee himself.
"It took a long time to get there, and a big part of my decision in the offseason was I wanted to go to a place where I was going to get opportunity to play," he said. "And when I got traded here, I got opportunity and I got given a pretty clear role of what they expected of me. It's been the same ever since I got here, and it's been good."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS vs. CANADIENS
STREAM: 5:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet 360
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers begin a four-game homestand on Saturday night when they take on the Montreal Canadiens for the first of two matchups on the season.
Edmonton is returns to Rogers Place after a quick back-to-back road trip where they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Wednesday and lost to the Minnesota Wild by a 5-3 score on Thursday.
The Oilers jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Wild on Thursday courtesy of the powerplay, with Leon Draisaitl notching his 16th goal of the season and his 102 PPG of his career.
Joel Eriksson-Ek would tie the game early on the second, before a two-on-one between Connor McDavid and Draisaitl ended exactly how you would think it would, with the Oilers Captain notching the goal for his 19th of the year. That would be the last time the Oiler lead in the game, with Minnesota rattling off four consecutive goals before Klim Kostin scored his first as an Oiler with 3.7 seconds remaining in the game.
"I thought we did some good things tonight, and what I like is seeing our players compete and give it everything they have, and tonight our guys gave it everything they have but we just made a few too many small errors that ended up in the back of our net and it was too big of a hill to overcome," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said after the Oilers defeat to Minnesota. "We're happy to go back home and get some rest and get ready to take on Montreal because I'm sure it's going to be a good game."

Canadiens Team Scope
The Canadiens come to Edmonton riding high after a 2-1 victory down the highway over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Montreal was backstopped by the excellent performance of Jake Allen, who turned aside 45 of 46 Flames shots on the night -- while another 23 attempts were blocked by his teammates in front of him.
Montreal was lead by tally's by 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slakovsky and leading goal getter Cole Caufield, who scored the game winning goal with his 13th of the season.
The contest saw the return to Calgary of former sixth-overall pick by the Flames Sean Monahan, who was dealt during the offseason to Montreal. The 28-year-old assisted both Canadiens goals in the victory.
"You get a lot of emotions coming up into the game," Monahan said after the game. "Once I stepped on the ice in warmup, I was pretty nervous to be honest. I was the most nervous I've been for a long time. I'm just happy we came out with a win."
Montreal's win over the other Albertan club gave them a three-game win streak on the road and a 6-4-1 record overall on the season.

By The Numbers
The Oilers have scored 24 of their 82 goals while on the man advantage this season... Only the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche have scored a higher percentage of their goals on the powerplay... The Oilers have allowed three goals or more in 19 of their 24 games this season... Connor McDavid leads all players in highest involvement in team goals, with his 43 points coming from 82 Oilers goals... Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL in powerplay goals from the start of the 2018-19 season with 80, 16 goals more than second place David Pastarnak....
Through 23 games, the Canadiens have doubled their win total over the same stretch as last season, going 12-10-1 in 2022-23 compared to 6-15-2 in 2021-22... The Canadiens lead the NHL in one-goal wins this season with eight of their 12 wins coming by a single tally... The Canadiens have been outscored 35-25 in the third period of games this season... Montreal ranks third last in the NHL in powerplay percentage at only 15.7 per cent... The Canadiens are second in the NHL in contributions from rookies, with their 28 points only trailing the Buffalo Sabres... Montreal leads the league in goals by players aged 23 or younger with 38 on the season...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR;
Evander Kane
(wrist) is on IR;
Ryan McLeod
(undisclosed) is on IR;
Kailer Yamamoto
(undisclosed) is on IR.
CANADIENS - Paul Byron (undisclosed) in on IR; Carey Price (undisclosed) is on IR, Jonathan Drouin (upper-body) is on IR, Brendan Gallagher (undisclosed) in day-to-day
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com