ilers: @ :cats: PreviewSeason series -- As is often the case when East meets West, these two teams will only meet once this season, and it was right around this time they met last. The Panthers stopped a couple of streaks, winning 2-0 at Rexall Place last Dec. 11. One was a four-game slide at the hands of the Oilers overall, another was their first win in Edmonton since Jan. 5, 1996, spanning five losses and one tie in that time.
Big story -- Not a lot of difference between this year and last for these two teams, at least as far as their records are concerned. The standings are a little different. While both are reasonably close to a playoff spot, things are a little more crowded in the conference grid this year, which puts both teams close to the bottom. Both have suffered slumps, the Oilers starting to get out of theirs, the Panthers still struggling to get back on track. Either way, both teams can use a win here.
Who's hot?: -- Smid isn't the type of guy to make anyone's hot list offensively, but snapping his 151-game goal drought is worthy of mention. He scored his first goal since April 2007 in Edmonton's 3-2 shootout win in Dallas on Saturday.
"A hundred and fifty-one? Wow," he said. "I really wasn't keeping track. I would have been too frustrated."
"I'm pretty happy for Laddie," goalie Jeff Deslauriers said. "I always tell him you have a hard shot, you should shoot the puck more often. Today he did pretty good."
Panthers forward Stephen Weiss has a four-game goal-scoring streak that includes his hat trick against Colorado on Wednesday, while Radek Dvorak will skate in his 1,000th NHL game Monday.
Injury report -- Mike Comrie (mononucleosis) and Taylor Chorney (ankle) remain out for the Oilers, while Panthers center Gregory Campbell (shoulder) may be available this week.
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