Stars, Oilers locked in heated played race down the stretch

Stars (34-24-3, 71 points) vs. Oilers (35-23-5, 75 points)

The Stars have 21 games remaining, and all of them are important.
But it sure looks like this team could be in a race with two teams from the Pacific Division to secure one of the wild card playoff spots in the West. Currently, the Nashville Predators are fourth in the Central Division in points percentage at .619, and while that's not out of reach, the easier path to postseason play is to be better than the fourth-place team in the Pacific Division.
Currently, Edmonton (.595) and Vegas (.554) are battling in that race with the Stars at .582. Bottom line, that makes games against the Oilers and Golden Knights super huge down the stretch.
"We're going to be chasing these guys all the way to the end for a playoff spot, so these games are huge," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "It's getting to the fun part of the season. You're going to be playing these teams and you're going to be battling with them for a playoff spot, so the intensity goes up. It's playoff hockey."

Edmonton lost in Colorado on Monday, 3-2 in overtime, but is 5-0-1 in its past six games.
"I thought it was an excellent hockey game," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We were right there, had chances to win, it went to overtime in a 3-on-3 situation, and we had a player lose a helmet and overskate the puck that ended up in the back of our net. I'm proud of how we competed. We got a lot of really good efforts. There were a lot of good hockey players out there."
Now, they have to reload and get ready for a big game against the Stars.
"Happy that we got a point, and we're going to get on a plane, refuel and we're going to get ready for another tough game against a very game Stars team," Woodcroft said.
The Stars will have their hands full with league scoring leaders Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, especially when you consider that Miro Heiskanen has been an effective defender against them and is currently out with mononucleosis.
"Any time you play against Draisaitl or McDavid, it's not one guy, it's a group effort," Bowness said. "You try to play those guys one on one, and you're playing right into their strength. So, it's always a group effort, you try to outnumber them, we try to crowd them, we try to slow them down as much as we can."

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What to watch

The Stars added two players in the past two days, but both should be able to transition into the dressing room with ease. New goalie Scott Wedgewood played junior hockey with Tyler Seguin and grew up in the same town. He also knows several other Stars players, including Marián Studenič. New forward Vladislav Namestnikov was part of the Tampa Bay Lightning when Bowness was an assistant coach there.
"He texted me right after the trade," Wedgewood said of Seguin. "When I came in everybody was great and I'm looking forward to it."
Seguin and the Stars posted pictures of the two together when they were younger, and Wedgewood said he also knows Luke Glendening, Joel Hanley and goalie coach Jeff Reese.
"You're not going to meet too many bad guys in hockey," Wedgewood said. "It'll be fun."

Bowness said Namestnikov was a solid player with the Lightning, and he looks forward to reuniting. Weather issues kept the forward from joining the Stars for Tuesday's game, but Bowness said he expects good things.
"I had him in Tampa, and he's a great kid," Bowness said. "He's a really good teammate, he can play left wing, play center. He's a smart, intelligent player. He's very versatile, good skater, good skills, he'll be a good fit for our team. He's a great pick-up for us."

Lineup update

The Stars placed Braden Holtby on long term injured reserve, so Wedgewood will serve as the backup and likely play a game fairly soon.
Otherwise, the lineup for Tuesday is the same as Sunday.
Here's a possible lineup:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Peterson-Seguin-Gurianov
Studenic-Benn-Radulov
Raffl-Faksa-Glendening
Suter-Hakanpaa
Lindell-Klingberg
Hanley-Sekera
Oettinger
Wedgewood

Numbers

19

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger will get his 19th start in the past 21 games. That's the first time since 2014 that a Stars goalie will play that many games. Kari Lehtonen did it that season.

21-0-0

Edmonton is 21-0-0 when scoring first. Dallas is 25-8-1.

19

McDavid, who leads the NHL in scoring with 91 points in 62 games, has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 13 career games against the Stars.

He said it

"I think we're in a good spot right now. The biggest thing is we have to be more consistent. We've got to play well, but when we play our game, we're a tough team to play." -- Stars GM Jim Nill following the trade deadline
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.