Edmonton @ Buffalo preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 14, 2019 ) Buffalo 2, Edmonton 7

Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel have been linked together since the forwards were selected first and second, respectively, in the 2015 NHL Draft. McDavid, who won his third straight Fastest Skater competition at the expense of Eichel in January, will look to best his rival again on Monday when the Edmonton Oilers conclude their five-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres.

Unfortunately for both captains, their respective teams are fading fast out of the postseason picture with Eichel's Sabres losing seven of their last nine (2-6-1) while McDavid's Oilers had dropped 13 of 16 (3-9-4) before winning their last two contests. The 22-year-old McDavid, who scored and set up a goal in Edmonton's 7-2 romp over Buffalo on Jan. 14, collected three assists in a 4-0 rout of Columbus on Saturday to give him at least a point in five straight games in which he played and 13 of 14 overall. Like McDavid, Eichel leads his team in assists (47) and points (70), although the latter saw his seven-game point streak halted with Saturday's 5-2 setback at Toronto. The Sabres' slump has dimmed their prospects of qualifying for the postseason for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, with the club residing nine points behind Montreal for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific, TVA, MSG (Buffalo)

ABOUT THE OILERS (28-30-7): Leon Draisaitl assisted on tallies by Zack Kassian and Josh Currie before reaching the 40-goal plateau after beating two-time Vezina Trophy recipient Sergei Bobrovsky from the right circle in the second period on Saturday. The 23-year-old Draisaitl will look to extend his 10-game point streak (eight goals, seven assists) when he visits Buffalo, against which he scored in the last encounter to give him two goals in eight career meetings. Kassian, who has scored in back-to-back contests, joined Milan Lucic in tallying twice in the last meeting with the Sabres.

ABOUT THE SABRES (30-27-8): Conor Sheary scored versus the Maple Leafs to boost his point streak to three games (three goals, two assists) heading into the encounter with Edmonton, against which he set up Casey Mittelstadt's opening goal exactly one minute into the tilt. Fellow forward Jason Pominville scored for the second time in five contests on Saturday, but his 15th tally of the season did little to soothe the sting of another painful loss. "We're not going to quit. We know that we've got to get every point we can," the 36-year-old Pominville told reporters.

OVERTIME

1. Eichel has notched seven points (three goals, four assists) in six career games against Edmonton while McDavid has six (three goals, three assists) versus Buffalo.

2. Oilers G Mikko Koskinen, who turned aside 41 shots in the first encounter with the Sabres, has yielded 12 goals in his last six outings (4-1-1).

3. Buffalo RW Evan Rodrigues, who scored in the first outing with Edmonton, is mired in a 12-game goal drought.

PREDICTION: Sabres 4, Oilers 3