Columbus @ Edmonton preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Edmonton 4, Columbus 0

With a chance to strengthen their hold on the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, the Columbus Blue Jackets followed a pair of home wins by dropping the first two contests of their four-game road trip. Now holding a one-point edge over ninth-place Montreal, Columbus looks to get back on track at the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

The Blue Jackets opened the trek with a 2-1 overtime loss at Boston before dropping a 4-2 decision at Calgary on Tuesday despite another strong effort. "We're not getting the results, which is frustrating, but the process is there," center Matt Duchene said. "We'll keep going and we'll stay with it and take it one day at a time." The Oilers, who are seven points of the second wild card n the Western Conference, open a five-game homestand after they were outscored 13-5 in back-to-back losses at Vegas and St. Louis. "We're banged up and there's not much left of us," coach Ken Hitchcock acknowledged. "We just need to regroup and get ready for the homestand."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), TVAS, Sportsnet1, Sportsnet East/Ontario/Pacific (Edmonton)

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (40-29-4): No. 1 center Pierre-Luc Dubois has been held off the scoresheet in all 10 games this month while linemate and leading scorer Artemi Panarin is mired in a 10-game goal drought. Linemate Cam Atkinson, who tops the team with 38 goals, has five points in the same span, although the trio was a growing concern in the loss to the Flames with 25 shot attempts. "We're finding ways to not score, I guess," Duchene said. "It's frustrating, but you've got to keep going and have the faith that it's going to break,"

ABOUT THE OILERS (32-34-7): Captain Connor McDavid, the league's second-leading scorer with 105 points, was front and center in the NHLPA Player Poll released Wednesday, earning top honors in three categories. McDavid was a runaway winner as the top forward, was voted the most difficult to play against and the player one would select to start a franchise with. McDavid, who is three points shy of matching his career high, collected three assists while Leon Draisaitl scored a goal and set up two others against Columbus earlier this month.

OVERTIME

1. McDavid had a 12-game point streak and a string of eight straight with multiple points snapped Tuesday.

2. Blue Jackets D Zach Werenski has two goals and six points in his last four games.

3. Oilers G Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves in the shutout at Columbus on March 2.

PREDICTION: Oilers 4, Blue Jackets 3