EDMONTON AT COLORADO, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ALT2, 950 AM
Spotlight on: Todd McLellan
The Oilers’ second-year coach guided the Houston Aeros to the 2003 Calder Cup as American Hockey League champions and never had a losing record in seven seasons with the San Jose Sharks, going 311-163-66 from 2008-15. McLellan, 49, is from Melville, Sask., and coached Team Canada to the 2015 World Championship gold medal with a perfect 10-0 record. More recently he was coach of Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey in September. McLellan’s son, Tyson McLellan, is a freshman forward for the University of Denver hockey team, and the duo will have some holiday time together before the Oilers move on to Arizona, where they play the Coyotes on Friday.
NOTEBOOK
Oilers: They are on a two-game winning streak after defeating the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 on Monday in Alberta. Teenage captain Connor McDavid had two assists to give him the NHL scoring lead with 24 points. … Forward Leon Draisaitl and defenseman Oscar Klefbom both have goals in their last three games. … This is a two-game “Dad’s Trip” for the Oilers, with many of the players’ fathers traveling with the team. … Rookie center Drake Caggiulla, who led North Dakota to the NCAA championship last spring, has an assist in each of his first two NHL games. Caggiulla’s NHL debut was delayed because of a hip injury. He was among the league’s most coveted undrafted college free agents last summer.
Գ:Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start and left wing Gabe Landeskog (lower-body injury) will miss his fourth consecutive game. Landeskog skated on his own Tuesday and might participate in Wednesday’s morning skate but won’t play against the Oilers. Rookie forward A.J. Greer, 19, will remain with the Avs until Landeskog is cleared to play and there are no other injuries. Greer will play his fifth career NHL game Wednesday. … Center Nathan MacKinnon has five points (two goals) in his last three games. … Colorado is fifth in NHL faceoff percentage (51.6), including a league-high 55.5 percent in the offensive zone. … The Avs are 7-2 in one-goal games and 3-0 in overtime.
