The Edmonton Oilers welcome the New York Rangers to Rogers Place for Friday night matchup against the New York Rangers
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 6:30 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. NYR
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Tyson Barrie
PRE-GAME RAW | Darnell Nurse
RECENT VIDEOS
PRACTICE | Coach Jay Woodcroft
PRACTICE | Derek Ryan
PRACTICE | Kailer Yamamoto
PRACTICE | Philip Broberg
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Rangers Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Yamamoto ready to go

OILERS PLUS: Ep. 13 features the Dad's Trip
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Friday's game on Sportsnet West at 7:00 p.m. MT.

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Oilers practice at Rogers Place on Thursday, including Kailer Yamamoto being activated off LTIR to play tonight against New York.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - There will be plenty of firepower on the ice at Rogers Place when two of the NHL's hottest sides in the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers clash on Friday night.
If the precedent between these two clubs from the past few seasons is to be followed, expect plenty of fireworks to follow.
"I think they're one of the hottest, if not the hottest team in the NHL right now," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said of the Rangers. "They can score. They ooze talent, skill and are a well-put-together team that's playing and firing on all cylinders, so they certainly have our attention here tonight.
"We're going to need all of our players giving us a full effort for a full 60 minutes."
The Blueshirts are winners of six straight, having bolstered their ranks for their coming playoff push with the addition of forward Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues to their roster back on Jan. 9.
The Russian winger has a goal and assist in three games for the Rangers and is playing on the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, who's scoring at over a goal-per-game in his last five contests with seven goals and two assists.
As a team, the Rangers have scored 31 goals in their last six victories.
"Yeah, it's a good team that's been playing well," defenceman Tyson Barrie said. "Obviously we know the guys they got and they added Vladdy. His kind of degree obviously speaks for itself, so we'll have to be sharp.
"Tonight will be a good test for us to see where we're at against a good team."
Edmonton is coming off back-to-back respective regulation and shootout losses to the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings, but are 9-1-3 in their last 13 games and haven't lost in regulation at Rogers Place (4-0-3) in their last seven home games.
Connor McDavid is one point shy of 100 points on the season for the third consecutive year and can tie Sidney Crosby as the only active player with six 100-point seasons with a point tonight.

The Rangers have won 11 consecutive games against Western Conference opponents, but the Oilers have been a tough team for them to crack in recent years. The Blue & Orange have won six of their last seven games against the Rangers dating back to Oct. 13, 2018 and three straight home games that have provided plenty of drama.
The Oilers knocked off the Rangers 3-2 in overtime at home back in March 2019 before winning a 12-goal thriller 7-5 on New Year's Eve later that year. McDavid scored the Goal of the Year at Rogers Place in 2021, beating four Rangers 1-vs-4 to force overtime with a mystifying goal before Leon Draisaitl won the extra point in overtime of a 6-5 victory.
It looked out of reach in the third period of their last meeting at Madison Square Garden earlier this season until the Oilers scored four unanswered in the final frame to steal a 4-3 win to continue the dramatics between these two teams.
Friday's meeting is certain to be the next thrilling matchup between these two offensive powerhouses of the NHL.
"Yeah, I think our mindset is going to be able to keep it below 7-5 and then not come back from three in the third period," defenceman Darnell Nurse said with a smirk. "So it's going to be a tough test. It's a good team with a lot of really good weapons and is playing well, so for us, we got to have to be on our toes."
MCDAVID MILESTONE
The excitement in the locker room for McDavid's inevitable 100th point of the season is… tempered.
"I don't know. Maybe we'll start getting excited at 150 or something," Barrie said. "We'll grab (the puck) for him. I don't know. It might go into his drawer somewhere, but yeah, we'll get it for him."
"I don't need to sit here and tell you guys (the media). You get to watch it every night. He's a brilliant player and he can beat you any which way and it's a pleasure to play with him."
When you witness McDavid's magic so regularly, like the players who share the same Oilers locker room, it's hard not to become accustomed to seeing him continue to defy expectations with awe-inspiring goals, passes and plays that are leading to production this season from the captain that's been unseen in the League for over two decades.
For Barrie, it isn't quite the same pleasure to practice against McDavid, who in recent months showed up the defender publicly in a foot race drill during Oilers practice that shared its rounds on social media and television networks the rest of the week.

The blueliner isn't afraid to throw a hand in on his teammate to slow him down by a step or two and keep more of those embarrassing clips off the airwaves.
"I like to glove him up, yeah. I don't like to make it easy on him out there," Barrie said. "You guys saw it in the skate where we did the the foot race. He cut the inside of the circle, everyone saw that, but yeah, I like to joke. He's so good.
"He beats the best in the world on a nightly basis and I like to give him a shot here and there at practice just to keep him on his toes."
They're just thankful that he's on their side, and that the captain's even-keeled comments on his own production can be attributed to his singular focus on earning more points in the standings to the benefit of his whole team.
"I think in my opinion, he's probably aware of where he sits," Coach Woodcroft said. "I think he is focused on not one point tonight. He's focused on getting two points. For our team, it's special. Anytime you hit the 100-point mark in whatever year it is, that's special. To do it in the amount of games that he's going to do it in is quite special.
"I'm sure he's aware of it, but as I said, I think where his focus lays is on trying to get the two points and secure the two points for our team today."
LINEUP NOTES
Kailer Yamamoto was activated off Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) before this morning's pre-game skate to officially end a 12-game injury absence on the sidelines with a nagging undisclosed injury.
Coach Woodcroft will slot the winger back into the lineup in a position that will play back into the regular tenacious role we've become accustomed to seeing from the Spokane, Wash. product, leaving no doubts on his ability to return to operating with his playstyle focused on offence and generating takeaways from opponents with strong forechecking and puck-battling.
"I think we're going to put him in the lineup where we feel best fits his skill set," Woodcroft said. "When I think of his skillset, I think of someone who's tenacious, someone who plays inside people's equipment and someone who puts the other team on the back foot with his pace and relentlessness."

With the activation of Yamamoto came two necessary additional roster moves with the loaning of defenceman Vincent Desharnais and forward Dylan Holloway to the Bakersfield Condors.
"Both understood the news with good spirits," Woodcroft added. "I think you don't have to worry about either one of those two young guys. They just love playing hockey and they're going to be important pieces of our team going forward."
The Oilers have only 12 forwards, six defencemen and two goalies now after the lineup shuffle, meaning Coach Woodcroft and his side will revert back to the 12-forward, six-defencemen set-up that hasn't featured too often for Woodcroft and his side in recent games.
"I think we've maintained a level of flexibility here in the last year and a half. I think we can win games going 12-and-six," he said. "We can win games going 11-and-seven, and I think when you do that, it's nice to know that you can. So you have a trump card in your deck if you need it or in your hand if you need it.
"I think the one thing that I'm fortunate with is that we got a lot of really good players here in Edmonton, so whoever goes in the lineup I think gives us a chance to win the game that evening. The ability to go 12-and-six or 11-and-seven I think makes us dangerous and hard to predict depending on what we show."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS vs. RANGERS
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers enter Friday's contest trying to re-establish the consistency that allowed them to reel off 11-straight games with a point.
Edmonton is coming off a solid contest against the Detroit Red Wings where a few unforced errors cost them the full two points. Detroit was able to score twice on the power-play and twice off faceoffs, with a couple of the goals bouncing off the legs of defenceman Philip Broberg.
The Oilers battled back in the game and really carried the play for the majority of the contest, outshooting the Red Wings 45-23 through regulation and overtime. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice and added an assist, while McDavid picked up a pair of assists to put him a single point shy of 100 on the season.
Jack Campbell lost his first start since before the New Year, allowing four goals on 23 Red Wings shots.
The Oilers last played the Rangers back on Nov. 26 in New York, rattling off three third period goals to pick up a 4-3 OT victory. Evan Bouchard scored twice, while Dylan Holloway notched the first goal of his NHL career to set up Leon Draisaitl's overtime winner.
"I think it's going to be a good game. They're a good team, and we're a good team too," Broberg said. "It's going to be a good game tomorrow, and we have got to be ready."

Rangers Team Scope
The Oilers will have their hands full on Friday when the red-hot Rangers come to Rogers Place. New York has won their last six games in-a-row, scoring a whopping 31 goals over that stretch.
The Rangers will head to Edmonton on the heels of a 6-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. It was the dynamic duo of Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin who lead the way offensively for the Blueshirts -- each player notched two goals and an assist on the night. Panarin is off to another great start in New York, the Korkino, Russia native leads the team with 18 goals and 44 assists in 54 games this season. Former Norris Trophy winning defenceman Adam Fox continues to be one of the better two-way defenders in the game -- sitting fifth in the NHL in scoring among defenders with 51 points this season and sixth in plus/minus at plus-26.
NHL All-Star Igor Shesterkin allowed four goals on 29 Canucks shots to pick up his 24th victory of the season. Last year's Vezina trophy winner is having another good season with a .915 save percentage, but hasn't been as unbeatable as he was in '21-22 where he lead the league with a .935 save percentage.
In their most recent matchup against the Oilers, New York blew a three-goal advantage in the third in a 4-3 OT loss. It was a result that stuck in the craw of Rangers Head Coach Gerard Gallant.
"We might have had some bad periods, but I don't remember a four-goal period, so for tonight we were awful," Gallant said. "It's embarrassing. It's not acceptable."
Since November's contest, the Rangers have gone 22-8-4 and added a bonafide sniper in Vladamir Tarasenko in a trade with the St. Louis Blues last week. The 31-year-old has notched a goal and two assists in three games with New York since the deal.

By The Numbers
The Oilers have not lost a game a home in regulation in their last seven contest at Rogers Place, going 4-0-3 in that stretch... Since Jan. 5, the Oilers are 10-2-4 and have outscored their opponents 67-46 in those games... Connor McDavid will enter the game one-point shy of 100 on the season and four points away from 800 in his career... McDavid has 796 points in 543 games, only four players have needed fewer than 550 games to record 800 points... As long has the Oilers captain records four points within the next 126 days, he will become the fifth youngest player to record 800 points... McDavid would tie Sidney Crosby for the most 100-point seasons among active players with six if he records a goal or an assist against the Rangers... Leon Draisaitl is only four points away from reaching 700 in his NHL career... Only one other player from his draft year (2014) has even hit 500 points in David Pastrnak (578)...
New York is currently averaging 5.2 goals -er game over their six-game win streak and have scored six goals in each of their last three contests... The Rangers are 22-0-0 when scoring four or more goals in a game this year... New York has the league's best record since Dec. 5, going 21-4-3 for a .804 points percentage... The only NHL team averaging more goals per game since Dec. 5 than the Rangers (3.79) is the Edmonton Oilers (3.93)... The Rangers have won their last 11 games over Western Conference opponents, with their last defeat coming against Chicago back on Dec. 3... The streak is the Rangers longest vs. Western Conference teams in the history of the franchise... New York has been dynamite away from Madison Square Gardens lately, sporting a 10-1-3 record and a plus-25 goal differential...

Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR;
Ryan Murray
(undisclosed) is on IR;
Kailer Yamamoto
(undisclosed) is on IR.
RANGERS - N/A
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com