Oilers left wing Robert Nilsson was activated from the NHL's injured reserve list Tuesday and is likely to make his return to the lineup as Edmonton hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night. Nilsson has been out since suffering a mild concussion on Jan. 9 against San Jose. He missed five games because of the injury. Liam Reddox will be taken out of the lineup, while Ales Hemsky will play for the second straight game.

One other change has Edmonton inserting tough guy Steve MacIntyre in against the Jackets. He replaces Jason Strudwick. MacIntyre had been a healthy scratch the last two games.

This will be the third game between the Oilers and Jackets in their season series. Manny Malhotra scored the winning goal on Nov. 5 for Columbus in a 5-4 win. Thirteen days later Marc Pouliot had the game winner as the Oilers were victorious 7-2. Their final meeting will also be at Rexall Place on Feb.26.

Shots and lots of them is what Columbus has had against Edmonton in their first two meetings. The Jackets have directed 77 shots at Edmonton netminder Dwayne Roloson, 46 of which have come in the first and third periods. In comparison the Oilers have 46 shots total for the two games.

Columbus may want to consider trying to relocate to the Northwest Division. In their latest game against a Northwest opponent they defeated Vancouver 6-5 in a shootout. That gave them a 9-2-1 record against that division. It's the most wins they have against any division in the NHL.

The Oilers went 201 games without a hat trick and now they have two in the past 4 games. Erik Cole turned the trick vs. Washington Jan. 13 and then Ethan Moreau did it Sunday against Phoenix. It was the captain's first career three-goal game and it left him with 99 goals as an Oiler. His next one will allow Moreau to become the 16th Oiler to hit the 100-goal plateau.

Power-play without the power would describe Columbus' work with the man advantage. The Jackets are dead last in the league in power-play efficiency sitting at an 11.3 per cent success rate. Their 22 power-play goals is four fewer than the next closest opponent -- Phoenix and Nashville, tied. This means for Edmonton's penalty killers, who rank 28th in the league, in successive games they have been up against the 29th-ranked power-play of Phoenix and 30th-rated Columbus.

The Edmonton Oilers are hoping to move five games above .500 and a win would put them there for the first time this season and for the first time since April 1, 2008.