PREVIEW: Oilers at Stars (Game 1)

The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars begin the Western Conference Final on Thursday night with Game 1 at American Airlines Center.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 6:30 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin 30 minutes before puck-drop, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

Game previews during the 2024 Oilers playoffs are presented by Pizza 73 🍕

PREVIEW: Oilers at Stars (Game 1)

DALLAS, TX – The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars will face off in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Thursday night at American Airlines Center.

The Oilers got past the Canucks in seven games to advance to the Third Round for the second time in three years, holding off Vancouver’s late push in a 3-2 victory in Game 7 on Monday. The Stars, meanwhile, are one round away from the Final for the second straight year after knocking out the defending Stanley Cup Champion Avalanche in six games. 

Dallas has been idle since Friday after Matt Duchene ended their series against Colorado in double overtime of Game 6, while Edmonton will be getting the opposite treatment to what they received in Round 2 with only two days in between to recover from an emotional series against the Canucks and regroup for another seven-game battle against the top-seeded team in the Western Conference – the third straight year where they've had to face the No. 1 seed in the West.

"I think the plus and minuses are fairly obvious," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "Sitting around for a week, your game can get a little rusty and I thought we definitely showed that maybe a little bit early in the Vancouver series.

"With us getting right back at it, guys are still in game mode. Not much time in between, but I feel like we're also rested. The coaching staff has been great with giving guys days where they need them, and I feel like we're rested and healthy and ready to roll."

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The Oilers and Stars will meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth time in their history, with this year’s meeting being the first time they’ve met in the postseason since the 2003 Western Conference Quarter-Finals when the Stars won the series four games to two.

Dallas has won six of the previous eight post-season series against the Oilers, including five straight playoff series dating back to Edmonton’s last win when Todd Marchant scored the OT winner in Game 7 of the 1997 Quarter-Finals.

During the regular season, the Stars won two of the three meetings with the Oilers, with Edmonton’s only win coming off the stick of Evan Bouchard 30 seconds into overtime back on Feb. 17 in a 4-3 victory. Bouchard was tied with Sam Gagner for the team-high in goals against Dallas in the regular season with two, with the defenceman amassing eight points (2G, 6A) in nine career games (regular season plus playoffs) against the Stars.

Since the start of 2024, the Oilers (39-16-5) and Stars (38-17-5) have been the top two teams in the Conference, with this year’s Western Final marking the meeting of two powerful teams with different strengths that deserve their places in the Final Four.

"Obviously they have skill throughout the lineup, and it's a bit different from what I thought Vancouver was," defenceman Mattias Ekholm said. "Maybe they loaded up their top two lines a little bit more, but all teams that are left in the playoffs right now have skill throughout, So it's nothing new, but they have some high-end guys that we really have to make sure we contain."

The Oilers enter the Third Round having not allowed a power play goal against in four straight playoff games, going 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in that span which includes their clutch stop on a four-minute double minor in Game 7 against Vancouver where they didn't allow a shot.

With only three goals allowed on 35 kills this postseason (91.4 percent), the Oilers PK ranks the highest in the playoffs, while Dallas has been less effective while shorthanded at only 69. 2 percent (18-for-26), which is the lowest among remaining teams and 11th overall.

Edmonton's 37.5 percent (15-for-40) power play also takes top spot, with Dallas' 29 percent (9-for-31) power play sitting fourth in the playoffs only a smidge behind the New York Rangers for third among the remaining teams.

Edmonton's offensive strength comes from their top-three of Evan Bouchard, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, with each having recorded 20 points through the first two rounds of the playoffs to make the Oilers the first team in NHL history to do it after the trio put up big numbers in their second-round triumph over the Canucks.

Bouchard is third in team playoff scoring (20) behind only McDavid (21) and Draisaitl (24), but the Oakville, Ont. product leads all NHL D-men and set the new league record for points by a blueliner in the first two rounds after adding four goals and seven assists over seven games versus the Canucks.

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Despite those numbers, Bouchard's teammates and coaches still think that his ability is underrated around the League – especially on the defensive side as part of a tandem with defenceman Mattias Ekholm.

"I think the way he's developed on the defensive side of things, being able to break the puck out and being able to defend and not spend time in our zone, I think that's where he's probably taking the most strides offensively since he's been here," Zach Hyman said. "You can always kind of see it whenever he gets the puck. As a forward, you get excited because he's going to make a play. You know he's going to make a play, and then I think just on the defensive side, there's trust in him. When he and Ekky are back there, good things happen and we break the puck up pretty cleanly."

Bouchard's five goals this postseason are only matched by Miro Heiskanen, the Stars' dynamic Finnish blueliner who's become one of the League's best defencemen over the last couple of seasons.

Heiskanen leads a well-balanced Dallas team in scoring with 13 points, and the Finn is one of many in their lineup who has the veteran experience alongside the likes Joe Pavelski, Ryan Suter, Matt Duchene, Tyler Seguin while also being stocked with recent but already established names like American superstars Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger.

The Oilers might not have the games played to match the experience of Pavelski, Suter and Co., but the Blue & Orange's core leadership group that's been around for a number of years in McDavid, Draisaitl, Nurse and Nugent-Hopkins believe their group is in prime position to seize their opportunity and get to the Stanley Cup Final after being down this road a few times and losing to the eventual Cup champion the last two years.

"We certainly have a lot more experience going through the last couple of runs being in different situations, holding leads and needing to come back," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "Whatever the situation, I feel like we've been in it the last couple of years and we'll just draw on that experience. We're definitely a more mature group."

"I think just the experiences of those moments over the last couple of years," Leon Draisaitl said. "I think the last time were in this situation, it was really our first long run. Since then, we've been to the second round. We're here now again. So you learn so much along the way, and these moments of adversity and these moments where you've got to find a way to battle through it and get out on top have just taught us a lot. We're ready for it."