The Oilers continue their holiday home stand with a key game against divisional rivals the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West and listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Read the game preview below with lineup updates, videos, our Pre-Game Report and more to come.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. SJ
PRE-GAME RAW | Khaira
PRE-GAME RAW | Caggiula
PRE-GAME RAW | Rattie
PRE-GAME RAW | Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock
BY THE NUMBERS
Stats Comparison: Oilers vs. Sharks
Media Game Notes: Oilers vs. Sharks
2018-19 Oilers Player Statistics
2018-19 Sharks Player Statistics
2018-19 Head-to-Head: Oilers vs. Sharks
2018-19 NHL Standings
GAME PROGRAM
Tonight's Game Program
MORE INFORMATION
You can watch Saturday's game within the Oilers region on Sportsnet West.
Injury Report
Play our Oilers Fantasy Hockey game and win prizes
UPDATES
Inside The Oilers Blog

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Friday's Oilers practice and media availability including Valentin Zykov placed on waivers.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - Cue the suspenseful 'Jaws' theme music.
Because the Oilers are set to dip into the waters with the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in a matinee tilt. Edmonton is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday while San Jose brought down the Anaheim Ducks by the same score in their return from the holiday break.
The Sharks swim into Rogers Place with a 20-12-7 record and lurk in the second spot of the Pacific Division with 47 points - two ticks back of the Calgary Flames, who idle in first. The squad is 8-2-2 in their last 12 outings, outscoring their opposition 46-28 and are 3-0-1 in their last four meetings with Edmonton.
"San Jose is a veteran team that plays a veteran game," Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock said at Rogers Place on Friday. "They've got a lot of older, veteran guys that know how to play the right game at the right time."
San Jose didn't didn't perform to their usual expectations in the month of November, going 6-6-2. That changed when December hit, as the Sharks have gone 8-3-2 this month.
"They always get better as the season goes on, and that's exactly what they're doing now," Hitchcock said, adding that the Oilers must limit their mistakes if they want to compete with their upcoming opponent.
"If you make a little error, they make you pay for it in a big way. We got to avoid the big errors at the wrong time. If we do that then I like our chances to compete against them."
SNAP THE SKID
Four consecutive losses have put the Oilers outside of the playoff picture but still within its reach. The Orange & Blue are two points out of the second Western Conference wild card position and will look to snap their four-game funk on Saturday.
"We've kind of been shooting ourselves in the foot," said Oilers forward Drake Caggiula, who was sidelined on Thursday due to an illness but is ready to enter the lineup.
"The mistakes that we're creating on our own are ending up in the back of our net. If we can minimize that, we're doing a pretty good job otherwise."
The Oilers have been outscored 18-8 during the 0-4-0 slide and were handed a big blow offensively when it was revealed that Alex Chiasson will not play versus the Sharks. The forward, who has 16 goals this season, was hit with a point shot versus the Canucks and had to undergo an MRI on Friday.
"Especially with Chiasser going down now, we need more guys to step up," said Caggiula, who has seven markers and 10 points on the year.
"I got to take some onus on that as well. We got to find more ways to create offence ourselves and minimize our mistakes."
JUJHAR IS BACK
The Oilers will, however, get a body back up front against the Sharks with the return of Jujhar Khaira.
The Surrey, BC, product was suspended for two games after an illegal cross-check to St. Louis Blues player Vince Dunn. Prior to the suspension, the forward was playing left wing on the second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi, showing growth under the tutelage of Hitchcock. Khaira has already set a career-high in assists this season with 11 and is nine points away from setting a career-high point total.
"I want to grow every part of my game," Khaira said following Friday's practice. "I want my game to get better throughout the season every game of the year."
Khaira's offence continues to trend upwards. That's a byproduct of confidence, he says.
"I've shown offence before growing up," he said. "Slowly confidence builds throughout the season and right now I'm feeling good."
At practice, the 24-year-old centred Milan Lucic and Ryan Spooner.
"Every time I watch him play, I'm really impressed with his small ice quickness, his ability to get out of trouble and escape ability on the ice," Hitchcock said. "I think we all feel that he's a winger that's doing us a favour by playing centre ice… We need a third centre right now, so we're going to use him as a third centre."
LINEUP NOTES
While the Oilers did get Caggiula, Garrison and Khaira back on Friday, the aforementioned Chiasson will be held out of the lineup against the Sharks. Ty Rattie got the bump up to the first line with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
Kris Russell, who's missed the past seven games, skated in full on Friday. The Albertan was partnered up with Garrison and it's possible that he could enter the lineup on Saturday, but it hasn't yet been confirmed.
"We'll get an evaluation on how he feels after practice and through the rest of the day, but he went full board today so he's extremely close whether it's tomorrow or the 31st," said Hitchcock.
Lines at practice appeared to be:
Draisaitl - McDavid - Rattie
Caggiula - Nugent-Hopkins - Puljujarvi
Lucic - Khaira - Spooner
Rieder - Brodziak - Kassian
Nurse - Larsson
Jones - Benning
Gravel - Wideman
Garrison - Russell
Talbot
-- Paul Gazzola, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS (18-16-3) vs. SHARKS (20-12-7)
TV: 2:00 p.m. MST Saturday; Televised on Sportsnet West
Head-to-Head:
Tonight's game is the second of five meetings between the two teams this season.
Back on November 20, the Oilers defeated the Sharks 4-3 in overtime. Last season, the Sharks took three out of four with Oscar Klefbom and Leon Draisaitl leading the way offensively for Edmonton with four points apiece.
Oilers team scope:
The Oilers are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, having dropped decisions to the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning bookended by a pair of setbacks to the Vancouver Canucks.
Edmonton now sits two points out of the eighth and final playoff spot (second wild card) in the Western Conference but hold a game in hand on the Dallas Stars. They are eight points behind the Sharks, who sit third in the Pacific but also hold two games in hand on them as well.
Connor McDavid leads the Oilers with 54 points (19 goals). He sits fourth in the NHL, seven points back of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov for first in the League.
With 45 points, Leon Draisaitl is tied for 13th in the NHL in points.
Sharks team scope:
The Sharks are one point ahead of Vegas for second in the Pacific and two points behind the Flames for top spot in the division.
Logan Couture and Brent Burns lead the way offensively for the Sharks as both players have 36 points through 39 games. Burns is tied for fourth in the NHL in defence scoring, one point back of Thomas Chabot and John Carlson who are tied for second and eight back of Morgan Rielly who is in first with 44 points.
San Jose has only won one of its last four games (1-1-2) and that game last time out on Thursday at home against Anaheim in a 4-2 victory. Prior to that, they had won five straight and seven out of eight.
By the Numbers:
Erik Karlsson has only two goals this season for the Sharks and 26 points in 37 games. He's on pace for 55 points this season which, while exceptional for a blueliner, would be his lowest total since the 2011-12 season when he had 45 points in 75 games (12-13 lockout season excluded).
San Jose is 15-1-2 when leading after two periods this season. The most productive period for the Sharks is the first period where they've scored 47 goals. That is the least productive for the Oilers with only 29.
Injury Report:
OILERS - Andrej Sekera (achilles) is out; Oscar Klefbom (hand) is out; Kris Russell (undisclosed) is questionable; Drake Caggiula (illness) is questionable; Jason Garrison (illness) is questionable; Alex Chiasson (leg) is questionable
SHARKS - San Jose is healthy
-- Marc Ciampa, EdmontonOilers.com