Stars to play Oilers in Western Conference Final

The Dallas Stars will play the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final.

Dallas defeated the Colorado Avalanche in six games in the second round. Edmonton eliminated the Vancouver Canucks with a 3-2 win in Game 7 on Monday.

The Stars (52-21-9) are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division and will have home-ice advantage against the Oilers (49-27-6), who are the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division.

Miro Heiskanen leads the Stars in the playoffs with 13 points (five goals, eight assists). Jason Robertson has 12 points (three goals, nine assists), and Wyatt Johnston has 11 points (seven goals, four assists). Tyler Seguin (three goals, five assists) and Jamie Benn (three goals, five assists) each has eight points. Jake Oettinger has started all 13 games, going 8-5 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

The Stars were 2-0-1 against the Oilers during the regular season, winning 4-3 on the road on Nov. 2, and 5-0 at home on April 3. Dallas lost 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 17.

Matt Duchene had four points (two goals, two assists), and Roope Hintz (two goals, one assist) was one of seven players with three points each. Johnston, Pavelski, Thomas Harley, Mason Marchment and Radek Faksa each had a goal and two assists, and Heiskanen had three assists. Oettinger was 1-0-1 with a 2.00 GAA, .932 save percentage and one shutout, and Scott Wedgewood made 46 saves in his only start, the 4-3 win.

Leon Draisaitl leads the Oilers in the playoffs with 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists). Connor McDavid has 21 points (two goals, 19 assists), Evan Bouchard has 20 (five goals, 15 assists), and Zach Hyman leads the NHL with 11 goals.

Stuart Skinner is 7-3 with a 2.87 GAA, .881 save percentage and one shutout in 10 starts. Calvin Pickard is 1-1 with a 2.21 GAA and .915 save percentage in three games (two starts).

Against the Stars, Edmonton was led by Bouchard and Sam Gagner, who each scored two goals. Evander Kane and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist, and Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists.

Skinner allowed four goals on 27 shots in his only start, the 4-3 loss. Pickard was 1-1-0 with a 4.00 GAA and .864 save percentage.

Dallas and Edmonton have played six times in the playoffs, with the Stars winning the past five. The teams met in the postseason six times in a seven-year span from 1997-2003. The franchise faced Edmonton two additional times as the Minnesota North Stars, winning the 1991 conference final in five games and losing the 1984 conference final in four games.

The Stars franchise has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final five times, the last coming in 2020, when it lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. The Stars won their only championship in 1999.

The Oilers have advanced to the Cup Final seven times, the last coming in 2006, when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. Edmonton has won the Cup five times.