The Dallas Stars are back in the Western Conference finals for the second consecutive season after defeating the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in their second-round series.
They will face their first Canadian opponent of the postseason, as they take on the Edmonton Oilers, who won their second-round matchup with the Vancouver Canucks in seven games.
The Stars, as the Western Conference regular-season champions, have home ice advantage, meaning they’ll host Games 1 and 2 as well as Games 5 and 7 (if necessary) at American Airlines Center.
Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Here are five things to know about the Stars’ third-round matchup:
Best player in the world
Each round this postseason, the Stars have had a bigger challenge on their hands in terms of individual talent.
After getting past Jack Eichel in the first round, the Stars managed to limit Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon in the second round, as he had just two goals and three assists in the series.
Now, they’ll have to face the best player in the world.
Connor McDavid finished third in the league in regular season with points (132) and ranks second in the league in points this postseason (21), trailing only his teammate Leon Draisaitl (24).
McDavid is a Hart Trophy Finalist this year, three-time Hart Trophy winner, five-time Art Ross Trophy winner and seven-time NHL All-Star.
The Stars have used their depth and lockdown defenseman Chris Tanev to limit elite players so far this postseason. They held McDavid to just one assist in three regular-season meetings but will have to find a way to limit him for a best-of-seven series.
“Cross your fingers, pray,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of what it takes to shut down McDavid. “It’s like Nate MacKinnon. It’s like Jack Eichel. You’re never going to hold them off the scoresheet. You’ve got to defend them as a five-man unit. You always have to have awareness when they’re on the ice. You’ve got to have detail to your game at all times, and you can’t take a breath because those guys will expose you.”
Old rivalry renewed
Between 1997 and 2003, the Stars and Oilers met six times in the playoffs. The teams have not played a postseason series in the 20 years since.
Dallas holds a 5-1 advantage all-time against Edmonton in the playoffs, beating them in two of the seasons they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999 and 2000.
Both teams have deep postseason histories, as the Stars are in the conference finals for the seventh time and the Oilers are this deep for the 11th time. However, they have only made the conference finals twice since the turn of the century — in 2006 and 2022.
Edmonton has won five Stanley Cups — all in a seven-year span between 1984 and 1990.
Goalie advantage for Dallas
Like last round, the Stars enter another series with an advantage by having Jake Oettinger in goal.
After goalie battles each night in the Vegas series, Oettinger was the better netminder compared to Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev last round. Dallas will now face an Edmonton team that has had some goaltending issues.
Edmonton starter Stuart Skinner has been inconsistent in his first 10 playoff games, posting a .881 save percentage and 2.87 goals-against average. Both numbers are the worst among goalies still in the playoffs.
Skinner was benched ahead of Game 4, as Edmonton turned to Calvin Pickard to make his first NHL playoff start. Skinner was pulled in the second period of Game 3 after allowing four goals on 15 shots.
Pickard has a .915 save percentage and 2.21 goals-against average in his three playoff games, but he was ultimately replaced again by Skinner for Games 6 and 7. Skinner got wins in the last two games of the series but faced just 32 combined shots.
Oettinger, on the other hand, has improved as the playoffs have gone on. He has a 2.09 goals-against average and .918 save percentage — both impressive in his first 13 starts.
Special teams threat gets even greater
Throughout the Colorado series, special teams determined the winner in the first five games and nearly cost Dallas in Game 6, as the Avalanche’s only goal that night came on the power play.
The Stars were lights-out on the penalty kill during Games 2 through 4, but once Colorado got going on the man-advantage, it was lethal.
Edmonton will be an even greater challenge in that regard. Its power play was connecting over 40% of the time just a few days ago but fell to 37.5%. That still leads the league this postseason. It also has the best penalty kill at 91.4%.
Dallas ranks 11th in the playoffs in penalty kill (69.2%) and fourth in power play (29%).
The Stars served the fewest penalty minutes in the league in the regular season and will need to keep that up in the series against the Oilers to keep them off the power play.
Stars controlled regular-season series
The regular-season results haven’t meant much for Dallas so far this postseason, as it went just 1-3-3 against Vegas and Colorado in their seven regular-season meetings. However, Dallas does appear to have Edmonton somewhat figured out.
The Stars were 2-0-1 in their three meetings and capped off the regular-season series with a stunning 5-0 win on national television in April, which set a franchise record as the Stars extended their win streak at the time to eight games.
Dallas also held Draisaitl to two assists and McDavid to one in the regular season.
If the Stars can translate that game plan to the playoffs, at least for Edmonton’s stars, it could bode well for them in a best-of-seven series.
On X/Twitter: @Lassimak
