AT THE MORNING SKATE

The Oilers iced a full crew for morning skate Tuesday, including recently sidelined defencemen Tom Gilbert and Jim Vandermeer, as well as forwards Ales Hemsky and Gilbert Brule. Call-up Jeff Petry, who arrived in Edmonton yesterday, was also present.

Brule continues to suffer from a touch of the flu and  was placed on injured reserve, allowing the club to activate Hemsky without reassigning rookies Linus Omark or Ryan O'Marra to Oklahoma City.

As such, the forward lines were as follows:

Hall - Gagner - Eberle
Penner - Cogliano - Hemsky
Paajarvi - O'Marra - Omark
Jacques - Fraser - Jones

Players and coaches are looking forward to Hemsky's return tonight.

"That's huge for us," Sam Gagner said.  "We feel like we've done our best and played well without him, but obviously he's a key part of our line-up and has a lot of skill and he injects a lot of offence into your line-up right away."

Head coach Tom Renney hopes the talented forward "keeps it simple" in his first game back. 

"I don't think he can afford to go out there and try to reinvent the wheel here or be the extraordinary player that he can be in game one of 10 away," the coach said. "He's been a very good player for us and as good as we've had from the get-go. I don't anticipate that will be too difficult for him, but he might want to try to do too much."

GILBERT GOOD TO GO

After leaving Sunday's game vs. Vancouver late in the second period due to a tweaked knee, Tom Gilbert was questionable for tonight's game vs. Buffalo. But after resting and recovering for a full day, the defenceman says he's good to go.

"Nice day off obviously was definitely good for my knee and the skate felt good this morning too," he stated.

If the injury had stuck, Gilbert's impressive iron-man streak of 292 straight games would have come to an end. Though it may make an interesting stat, the streak doesn't factor into his decision to play tonight, he said.

"Streak's okay, but that's not the important part. The important part is making sure that it's okay to go out there and skate with."

PETRY TO MAKE DEBUT

While Hemsky will take to the ice for his 465th career NHL game and Gilbert his 293rd, on the blue line, Petry will skate in his first. The 23-year-old college-trained defenceman replaces Vandermeer, who is not yet game-ready, and will skate with vet Ryan Whitney.

"He's been very, very good in Oklahoma City and all reports from the coaching staff suggest this is the guy to bring up," Renney said. "My first glimpse of him was at the development camp last summer and there's just something about him you liked, and so to see the evolution of him moving into his first NHL game is really cool.

"That said, he's got to be good -- he's got to move the puck well, he's got to get his shots through, he's got to defend with good gaps, he's got to be strong and firm in his own end."

Petry admitted he will feel some nerves but hopes to keep them in check tonight.

"I'm really excited but I want to kind of control the emotions, get them all out in warmup, and just play the same game I was playing down in Oklahoma," he said. "Over the last three or four weeks I thought I've been playing a lot better, plus-minus is going up, just feeling more comfortable each game."

Petry is the third rookie call-up the Oilers have made this season. According to Gagner, Omark and O'Marra have performed well and Petry is expected to do the same.

"When guys come up, you want to have them help add to the depth, and Linus and Ryan have done that really well," he said. "With Petry coming up, he's obviously a guy with a lot of skill off the back end and he can move the puck really well ... I think it's just a matter of us getting open for him and supporting him, and he's got a lot of skill so he should have a good night."

SIX FIRST-YEARS

With the addition of Petry, Omark, and O'Marra, the Oilers now have six rookies on their current roster, including Magnus Paajarvi, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Eberle.

It's a unique situation but not one that surprises Renney.

"We're in that stage of our development as an organization, and this is not the last guy that will get called up and get exposure to their first NHL experience," the coach explained. "We have to make sure that it's got value to it, and there has to be a certain demand on the player too. You want it to be seamless as much as possible, but we have to see what they can do."

STICKING IT TO THE SABRES

The rookies will face the Sabres for the first-time ever tonight and are likely unfamiliar with what happened the last time the two clubs met at Rexall Place. On January 27, 2009, the Sabres skewered the Oilers 10-2, a loss fans and players were eager to forget.

Gagner remembers the game but said it doesn't have a big impact on tonight's contest.

"We have a lot different team now and there's a lot of guys that weren't here for that, so obviously if you were a part of it, it's something that maybe you want to avenge," he said. "We have a lot of pride in here, but at the same time, it's a new year and we both have new teams.

"It's a matter of making sure that we're keeping things simple here at home and not trying to do too much but having that intensity where we're getting in on pucks."

Renney's philosophy is simple: "Before you start winning you've got to quit losing, and we've got to work on that."

-- Jen Sharpe, edmontonoilers.com

WATCH IT LIVE

Limited single seats remain for tonight's game against the Sabres; the two teams' lone meeting of the 2010-11 season. Don't miss your chance to watch these two clubs go head-to-head!

Purchase tickets online

NHL.COM PREVIEW

Last 10: Buffalo 4-5-1; Edmonton 4-4-2.

Season Series: This is the lone meeting between the teams. They haven't faced each other since Nov. 11, 2009, when Buffalo beat the Oilers by a 3-1 score at HSBC Arena.

Big Story: It's a tale of two teams trying to climb up the standings before it's too late. Buffalo enters Tuesday's action 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, while Edmonton is 11 back in the ultra-competitive West.

"I think we just continue to be ourselves," Oilers coach Tom Renney said Monday. "I don't think we're dressing anything up here. You know the reality of where we are in the standings and what our team looks like. Our team knows that better than anybody. But we absolutely love the challenge of going out to get wins. That's how we're approaching this."

Team Scope:

Sabres: Buffalo opened its two-game tour of Alberta on Monday night in disappointing fashion as it dropped a 5-2 decision at Calgary. The Sabres were without leading scorer Derek Roy, who tore his quadriceps tendon and is lost for the season, and defenseman Tyler Myers, who is battling the flu.

But nobody in the Sabres' dressing room is looking for excuses.

"We need to win," forward Drew Stafford said. "It's come down to this where we need the points and it starts with (Tuesday) night. We just have to forget about this one and get ready for a big one in Edmonton."

Oilers: Edmonton returned from the holiday break on Sunday and suffered a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Ryan O'Marra scored his first NHL goal and the Oilers built a 2-0 lead, but simply couldn't hang on.

"We played really well," said Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert, who injured a thigh in the second period and was limited to five shifts in the third before sitting out the rest of the game. "Obviously, with 24 seconds left, it's a tough loss."

Who's Hot: Sabres forward Jason Pominville has points in three of his last four games and nine in 12 contests, while Drew Stafford has tallies in two of his last three. … Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney has two goals in his last three games and six points in his last four.

Injury Report: Besides Roy, the Sabres will also be without center Tim Connolly, who is out indefinitely after fracturing his nose on Dec. 18. … Oilers center Shawn Horcoff (MCL) is out until February, while Ales Hemsky (groin), Jim Vandermeer (knee) and Gilbert Brule (flu) are day-to-day. 

Stat Pack: With Monday's loss, Buffalo is now 1-5-2 in its last eight road games.

Puck Drop: "It seems like we have 10-minute lapses in games where they kind of not necessarily score, but start swinging the momentum the other way. I think we've got to limit that, limit our turnovers, and really just do much of what we have been doing -- but do it for a full 60 minutes." -- Oilers forward Colin Fraser.

--  Brian Compton - NHL.com Staff Writer