Shutting down the Big Two isn't easy, but the Stars are up to the task

Stars (7-7-2, 16 points) vs. Oilers (13-4-0, 26 points)

The Stars have a history of playing well against the Edmonton Oilers.
Connor McDavid, not so much.
Dallas is 12-5-4 in its past 21 games against the Oilers, including 5-1-2 in the past eight. However, McDavid has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 12 career games against the Stars, just as he seems to score against everyone in the league.
McDavid led the NHL in scoring last season with 105 points (33 goals, 72 assists) in 56 games for a 1.88 average. He's back at that same pace this season with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 17 games. The only difference is teammate Leon Draisaitl has stepped ahead of him and leads the NHL with 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 17 games.
That means the Stars will have their hands full tonight with the 13-4-0 Oilers at American Airlines Center.
"If there's a secret to stopping them, it would've been found by now," Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. "You can't stop elite athletes. It's like Michael Jordan. Every elite athlete finds a way to succeed no matter what you do. That's what makes them elite athletes. If there was an answer to slowing them down, they wouldn't become elite."

And yet the Stars slow them down enough to beat them in many games. Dallas will have a few different looks since they last saw the Oilers in 2019, but the balanced structure of the forward groups means that either Jamie Benn (with Michael Raffl and Denis Gurianov), Roope Hintz (with Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski) or Radek Faksa (with Jacob Peterson and Alexander Radulov) could be out against McDavid or Draisaitl. Mix in the fact the team has good depth on defense, and Dallas seems to be in a good place at home.
"With those three guys, I have faith in all of them," Bowness said regarding the Stars centers.

The Oilers will mix up McDavid and Draisaitl, so the Stars have to be prepared for anything.
"He's arguably the best player in the world right now, and the other guy isn't far behind," Bowness said. "So it's a matter of getting on top of them and just trying to slow them down. You have to protect your defense as much as you can, if you let him free wheel, the defense will be on their heels all night."

What to watch

As good as the Oilers are offensively, the Stars also have a pretty good history against Edmonton.
Radulov has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 19 games against the Oilers, and is plus-14 in that span. Tyler Seguin has 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 22 games and is plus-5 in that span. Benn has 20 goals against the Oilers, tallying 34 points in 34 games, and racking up a plus-14 in that span.
Pavelski (54 points in 57 games) and John Klingberg (12 points in 15 games) also have good career histories against Edmonton.
So maybe Dallas could even outscore McDavid.
The Oilers are expected to go with Stuart Skinner in goal. The 23-year-old rookie is 2-2-0 this season with a 2.63 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
The Stars will go with Jake Oettinger in net. He's 2-0-0 with a 1.43 GAA and .955 save percentage this season.

Lineup updates

Andrej Sekera missed the previous game with a non-COVID-related illness but is expected to return. Luke Glendening has been hobbled after blocking a shot in Saturday's game, but also is expected to play.
Here are the expected lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Raffl-Benn-Gurianov
Peterson-Faksa-Radulov
Kiviranta-Seguin-Glendening
Suter-Klingberg
Lindell-Heiskanen
Sekera-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Khudobin
Braden Holtby, who has missed the past four games with a lower-body injury, has returned to practice. He won't be available for Tuesday, but he might be good for Friday against Colorado.
He's still listed as day-to-day.
"He said he felt fine today, but he hasn't had a lot of work in the last week, so we'll go from there," Bowness said on Monday.

Numbers

3

The Oilers have been outshot 11-3 in overtimes this year. One shot went in for Edmonton and none for the opposition. The Oilers are 1-0 in OT and 2-0 in shootouts.

39.6

Edmonton leads the NHL in power-play success rate at 39.6 percent. Second place St. Louis is at 28.9 percent. The Stars rank 27th in penalty kill success rate at 76.4 percent.

.617

Oilers head coach Dave Tippett is the all-time Dallas leader in coaching points percentage at .617. He ranks second in wins behind Ken Hitchcock (319) with 271.

He said it

"Who's the first guy on the ice this morning? Jake. He works his butt off, he's unreal. He's a great teammate and, for a young guy, he's got a lot of respect in that room. His work habits are second to none." -- Bowness when asked how the team gets Oettinger ready to face one of the best offensive teams in the NHL.
Great seats are still available for tonight's Stars game against Edmonton. Get your tickets now!
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.