The Dallas Stars returned to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in the second round of the series.
They will face the Edmonton Oilers, who won their second-round matchup against the Vancouver Canucks in seven games, and will face their first Canadian opponent of the postseason.
The Stars, the Western Conference regular season champions, have home-ice advantage, allowing Games 1 and 2 and (if necessary) Games 5 and 7 to be held at American Airlines Center. become.
Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Central Time.
Here are five things to know about the Stars’ third-round matchup.
best player in the world
In each round of this postseason, the Stars face big challenges in terms of individual talent.
After defeating Jack Eichel in the first round, the Stars held Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon to just two goals and three assists in the second round.
Now they have to play against the best players in the world.
Connor McDavid ranked third in the league in points (132) during the regular season and second in the league in points (21) this postseason, trailing only teammate Leon Draisaitl (24).
McDavid is a finalist for this year’s Hart Trophy, a three-time Hart Trophy winner, a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner and a seven-time NHL All-Star.
The Stars have used 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 games, but will need to find a way to limit him in the best-of-seven series.
Old rivalry reignited
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 overall advantage over Edmonton in the playoffs, having defeated Edmonton in two seasons in 1999 and 2000, when they reached the Stanley Cup Final.
This is the seventh time the Stars have advanced to the conference finals and the 11th time for the Oilers, and both teams have deep postseason histories. But they have only reached the conference finals twice since the beginning of this century, in 2006 and 2022.
Edmonton won the Stanley Cup five times in a seven-year span from 1984 to 1990.
Dallas goalie advantage
Like last time, the Stars will enter the new series in a favorable position with Jake Oettinger as their goaltender.
There was a nightly goaltending battle in the Vegas series, but Oettinger was the better netminder compared to Colorado’s Alexander Georgiev in the previous game. Dallas will now face an Edmonton team that has had goaltending issues.
Edmonton starter Stuart Skinner struggled in the first nine games of the playoffs, posting an .881 save percentage and a 3.36 goals-against average. Both numbers are the worst of any goalie remaining in the playoffs.
Skinner sat on the bench ahead of Game 4 as Edmonton turned to Calvin Pickard for his first NHL playoff start. Skinner was ejected in the second period of Game 3 after giving up four points on 15 shots.
Picard had a .915 save percentage and 2.21 points per game in three playoff games, but was eventually replaced by Skinner again in Games 6 and 7. Skinner won the final two games of the series, but took just 32 shots combined. .
Oettinger, on the other hand, has improved as the playoffs have progressed. He has a 2.09 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage, both impressive numbers in his first 13 starts.
Special forces pose a growing threat
Throughout the Colorado series, special teams scored the winners in the first five games and came close to losing to Dallas in Game 6, but the Avalanche’s only goal of the night came on the power play.
From Games 2 to 4, the Stars were scoreless on the penalty kill, but when Colorado started using the man advantage, it became deadly.
Edmonton will be an even bigger challenge in that regard. That power play, just a few days ago he was connecting at over 40%, has since declined. Going into Game 7, it was 36.8%. They still lead the league this postseason. They also recorded the highest penalty kill rate of 90.6% prior to Game 7.
Dallas ranks 11th in the playoffs on the penalty kill (69.2%) and fourth on the power play (29%).
The Stars committed the fewest penalty minutes in the league during the regular season and will need to maintain that in the series against the Oilers to prevent the power play.
Star-dominated regular season series
The regular season results haven’t meant much for Dallas so far in the postseason, as they finished 1-3-3 against Las Vegas and Colorado in seven regular-season games. But Dallas seems to have some understanding of Edmonton.
The Stars are 2-0-1 in the three meetings, concluding the regular season series with an impressive 5-0 victory on national television in April. The Stars extended their winning streak to eight at the time, setting a franchise record. game.
Dallas held Draisaitl to two assists and McDavid to one assist in the regular season.
If the Stars can carry that game plan into the playoffs, it could bode well in a best-of-seven series, at least for Edmonton’s star.
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