Edmonton @ Ottawa preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 22, 2018 ) Edmonton 6, Ottawa 2

Time is running out for the Edmonton Oilers to climb into playoff contention while only a few grains of sand remain in the Ottawa Senators' hourglass as the clubs meet Thursday in Canada's capital. Edmonton fell to 0-1-1 on its five-game road trip with a 6-2 loss at Toronto on Wednesday and is nine points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference after going 3-9-4 in its last 16 contests.

Ottawa has lost five straight, allowing 24 goals during the slide after Tuesday's 7-2 loss at Washington, and has a league-low 49 points. "Mistakes cost us goals right now. We've got to learn. It's going to be like this the whole way,'' Senators forward Magnus Paajarvi told reporters. "It's not going to be easy for us, any game now. We need to grab the wheel here and come together. We can't fold. We're not going to fold." Ottawa officially waved the white flag on the season by trading its top three scorers - Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel - prior to Monday's deadline, continuing a rebuilding process that started in earnest with two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson being shipped to San Jose during the offseason. The Oilers snapped a four-game slide in the series with a 6-2 victory at Ottawa in the last meeting March 22 behind two goals and two assists from captain Connor McDavid, giving him 10 points in six games versus the Senators.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)

ABOUT THE OILERS (26-30-7): McDavid (team-high 86 points) recorded an assist against Toronto in his return after serving a two-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of the New York Islanders' Nick Leddy. Leon Draisaitl scored his club-best 39th goal Wednesday and has three in his last two games while finishing February with 12 in 13 contests. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 20th goal of the season Wednesday and is on pace to surpass his career high of 24 set in 2014-15 and matched last season.

ABOUT THE SENATORS (22-36-5): Oscar Lindberg, who was acquired from Vegas as part of the Stone deal, scored Tuesday in his first game with Ottawa after finding out he was traded from his suddenly ex-Golden Knights teammates. Rookie left wing Brady Tkachuk inherits the team lead in goals with 14 while defenseman Thomas Chabot (club-most 47 points) is one of three players (Bobby Ryan, Colin White) with 13 tallies. Defenseman Mark Borowiecki blocked four shots in 15:42 of ice time in his return Tuesday after missing six games because of a foot injury.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton has lost eight of its last nine (1-6-2) against the Eastern Conference.

2. Ottawa D Dylan DeMelo is the only full-time player on the team with a plus rating at plus-11.

3. The Oilers killed only 8-of-13 penalties in their last four games after allowing three-power play goals to Toronto, lowering the league's third-worst unit to 75.1 percent.

PREDICTION: Oilers 3, Senators 2