The Edmonton Oilers entertain the Vegas Golden Knights in a pivotal Pacific Division battle on Pride Night at Rogers Place.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 7:00 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. VGK
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Stuart Skinner
PRE-GAME RAW | Darnell Nurse
RECENT VIDEOS
Oilers react to McDavid's 60th
RAW | Coach Woodcroft 03.24.23
RAW | Connor McDavid 03.24.23
RAW | Zach Hyman 03.24.23
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Golden Knights Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES

POST-GAME: McDavid makes it 60 goals
RELEASE: Oilers to celebrate Pride Night
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Saturday's game on Sportsnet & HNIC at 8:00 PM MT.

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from inside the Oilers organization, including the makings of the first 60-goal season of Connor McDavid's career.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - When the puck drops for Saturday night's contest at Rogers Place, the ensuing action should serve as a preview of the type of hockey on tap for the NHL postseason.
"Yeah, this is as close to playoff atmosphere as you're going to feel throughout the full day going into tonight," Darnell Nurse said about the key divisional clash. "Huge points on the table against a really good opponent. So, it'll be a big test first."
The Oilers have been nipping at the heels of the division leading Vegas Golden Knights for the entirety of the season but have been unable to catch the Nevada squad who sits six points above them in the standings.
As good as the Oilers have been since the NHL All-Star break, sporting a 13-5-4 record, the Golden Knights have been even better. Vegas has led the Pacific Division for 145 days this season, in part to their league best 16-3-2 record since the break.
Tonight, the Oilers won't have to scoreboard watch to see if Vegas picked up another two-points, they can take them directly from their divisional rivals.
"There are big implications. I mean, statement is one word for it. I think you just want to make sure that your game is in order. For us, it's a big test when you look at the standings and where you want to be at the end of the year, these points are huge," Nurse said when asked if this is a statement game. "I don't know if statement is so much the word to go with, but definitely a huge game in preparation for what's to come."

GAME 83

The Oilers haven't had a shot at the Golden Knights since a 4-3 win back on Jan. 14, but will go head-to-head with them twice in the next four days. As much as the focus around tonight's matchup will be on the chance to gain ground in the division standings, the overarching emphasis for the Oilers is fine tuning their game prior to the start of the playoffs.
"It's (the divisional matchup) had no effect on that. We go into every game with the mindset of winning that game," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We understand the macro picture of what's happening in the league, and specifically in our Pacific Division, it feels like everyone wins every night. But for us, our focus, as it has been all along is on our game and our team taking care of our details and taking care of our habits so that we're ready when Game 83 comes around. We think if you concentrate on your own process the results, positioning and standings, all that stuff takes care of itself."
One way for the Oilers to help refine their game and their process before the regular season ends, is treating every contest as if it was a playoff game. Edmonton has half their games remaining against teams they are likely to face in the playoffs and will have the opportunity to see how their game matches up against their Conference's best.
"Looking at it from my point of view, I look at this game as a playoff game. Just like when we play Seattle, just like when we play LA, when we play Winnipeg. Any team that's in a playoff spot, is a playoff game to me right now, just because you never know if you are going to face them in a series," Stuart Skinner said. "Being able to play them, play them hard, and play them the right way, I think is very important. It's going to be a big game tonight. They're obviously doing a great job, but so are we and we've been playing some really good hockey and it'll be a fun game to watch. It'll be a fun game to play night tonight."
The Oilers rode the wave of a red-hot finish to their season, into the postseason last year, and it resulted in a Western Conference Final appearance. It's a template that Edmonton is looking to replicate this time around.
"I think it comes down to habits and having your team game together and you build throughout the course of the season to get to that point. Once game 83 hits, every team is kind of in the same boat," Nurse said. "The game definitely tightens up. There's not as many chances for and you try to limit the chances against. For us, it's a big test especially a few of them in our own division and from the standpoint of going out there and it gives you that playoff feel too. You're making adjustments on the go on the fly as you see a team a little more frequently in the week.

PRIDE NIGHT

The Edmonton Oilers will be showing their support for diversity, inclusion and 2SLGBTQ+ communities throughout tonight's game against the Golden Knights. The Oilers players will be rocking Pride Tape for warmup, with the sticks being auctioned off at a later date, with the net proceeds donated to MacEwan University's Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity (CSGD).
This week, several of the Oilers players spoke about what this game means to them and the importance of diversity and inclusion in hockey.
"Listen, everybody has their own personal opinion. To me, it's an obvious no brainer. If I was in that position, I'd wear (a Pride Jersey). It doesn't go against any of my beliefs," Zach Hyman said. "On the contrary, I think it's extremely important to be open and welcoming to that greater community, just because they're a minority and they have faced a lot of persecution over the years. To show that we care and that we're willing and ready to include them in our game, in our sport, is extremely important to me. Like I said, it's a hard question. Just because people have their own personal beliefs. I just don't agree with them."
"This is a huge night. I think for a lot of people who have friends and family members who are part of these communities that they see these nights as important for everyone," Darnell Nurse said. "I think for us as a group and as a team, you want to show that our locker room in this game is welcoming to all, you can't just pick and choose when that is. For me, it's a big night."
"It'll be great. Obviously, just being able to support everyone is huge for us and it's huge for everybody," Stuart Skinner said. "I think where the world's at right now, it's an amazing day that we get to celebrate, and we're very excited."
"I know here in Edmonton, we strongly believe hockey is for everyone and strongly support Pride Night," Connor McDavid said. "(I'm) looking forward to it. I think we were the first team to use the Pride tape in warmup. We're firm believers in the celebration that is Pride Night."
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS vs. GOLDEN KNIGHTS
WATCH: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet & HNIC
Oilers Team Scope
Connor McDavid's senational second effort in overtime to score his 60th goal of the season capped off a 4-3 victory for the Oilers over Arizona on Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
Leon Draisaitl made two stellar passes to his captain in extra time, once on his backhand and another from his knees, to set up the milestone marker for McDavid as part of a four-assist evening for the German, who matched his career high of 110 that he's reached twice in '19-20 and '21-22.
"I'm glad that it was Leon making that decision to make that pass because he has that in his bag," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said following Friday's practice. "I think there's a reason he was voted 'Best Passer' by his peer group. I think when the game's on the line, in a situation like that, our coaching staff trusts someone of his ability to make that play."
The win improved Edmonton's win streak to five games and their record to 41-23-8 and 90 points -- third in the Pacific Division and six points off the Vegas Golden Knights, who the Oilers face twice in their next three games on Saturday and Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena in the second of a back-to-back.
During the month of March, the Oilers have gone impressive 9-2-0 to keep pace with the Golden Knights (10-2-0) and Kings (7-0-2), who own the two best records in the NHL since the All-Star break (Edmonton is 13-5-4 and tied for seventh-best during that span).
With plenty still to unfold in the Pacific Division playoff race, the Oilers players and coaches are keeping their picture focused on their own details as they keep improving their game ahead of the postseason.
"We're still ten games away. Lots can happen," McDavid said. "We are more focused on things that we control like our game and our habits every day. We know if we go into the playoffs feeling pretty good, we're going to give ourselves a chance and that's all you can ask for."
"It's going to be a good test tomorrow night to see where our game is at and we're excited about it," Woodcroft added. "We don't spend a lot of time thinking about games that have been played. We spend a lot of time thinking about what's going to happen in the upcoming game."

Golden Knights Team Scope
It was a narrow victory, but the Golden Knights have won plenty of those this season.
A close 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Scotiabank Saddledome saw Vegas win their 38th one-goal game this season, where they've performed strongly with a 23-8-6 record, but the win also came with its costs for the Golden Knights.
Logan Thompson was making his first start since Feb. 9 after missing 18 games with a lower-body injury, but exited with 6:07 remaining in the third period after making 37 saves. "I don't know what happened to be honest," Vegas Head Coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He just got up and left. I wish he would've taken his time so 'Quickie' would've had a little more time to warm up, to be honest with you.
"He knows his body; I have no idea. At the end of the day, let's hope it's not related to the previous injury and it's something that will be short term."
Thompson was sent back to Vegas for further evaluation on Saturday with forward Reilly Smith, who suffered a lower-body injury in Calgary. Smith had a nine-game point come to an end in the loss to the Flames and registered 12 points in 12 games prior to sustaining his injury on Thursday night.
The Golden Knights have had a harder time with Pacific Division opponents this season at 10-8-2, but they've had major success against the rest of the NHL with a 35-13-4 record.

By The Numbers
This will be the 12th all-time head-to-head meeting between Connor McDavid & Jack Eichel, the first two picks from the 2015 NHL Draft, who are level on points against one another over their careers (11) ... Eichel has 80 points in 93 games since being acquired by the Golden Knights... Eichel is tied for the fifth-fewest goals among players leading their team this season (26), but the Golden Knights boast 11 skaters with 10+ goals -- tied for second in the NHL with the Oilers... Alex Pietrangelo needs one assist to set a Golden Knights single-season record for assists by a defenceman (38)...
Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl each have 20 career points vs the Golden Knights (both 8G, 12A)... The Oilers reached 90 points in a season in their fewest games (72) since reaching 90 points in 68 games in 1986-87... Leon Draisaitl needs two goals to reach 300 for his career... He could join several teammates to hit that milestone as Connor McDavid & Evander Kane both need one goal to reach 300 for their careers...

Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR;
Ryan Murray
(undisclosed) is on IR;
Ryan McLeod
(undisclosed) is day-to-day... Devin Shore (illness) is day-to-day.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS - Reilly Smith (lower body) is day-to-day; Logan Thompson (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Keegan Kolesar (upper body) is day-to-day; Adin Hill (lower body) is day-to-day; William Carrier (lower body) is day-to-day; Laurent Brossoit (lower body) is on IR; Mark Stone (upper body) is day-to-day; Shea Weber (ankle) is on IR; Robin Lehner (hip) is on iR; Nolan Patrick (upper body) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com