Only four teams remain in question for the Stanley Cup. These teams have survived a grueling two rounds and find themselves just eight wins away from lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup. Here is the preview of the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers.
Dallas Stars
Dallas finds itself back in the conference finals for the third time since 2020. It has been a long hard fought road for the Stars to get back to the conference finals. They went seven games against the Golden Knights in the first round. Then, they had a hard-fought six-game series against the Avalanche. Essentially to get back here, they had to beat the previous two Stanley Cup champions.
A big reason for the Stars getting back here is the goaltender they drafted in the 2017 second round: Jake Oettinger. Throughout the playoffs, Oettinger has a .918 save percentage and a 2.09 goals-against average. This is music to every Stars fan’s ears because Oettinger had the worst regular season of his career. Stars fans weren’t sure which Oettinger they were going to get. However, when the lights were brightest Oettinger turned back into the goaltender we’re used to him being.
The Stars’ offense has been led by 2017 first-round pick Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen leads the team with 13 points and has been producing in both goals and assists. However, the biggest impact Heiskanen has is what he’s done on the powerplay. He currently leads the team with three power-play goals. But Heiskanen isn’t the only guy getting it done on the offense. Center Wyatt Johnston has come alive this playoffs. Building off his strong regular season, Johnston leads the team with seven goals.
Edmonton Oilers
Similar to the Stars, the Oilers are back in the conference finals for the second time in the last three years. After a relatively easy first-round matchup against the Kings, the Oilers fought for their lives in round two. After being down in the series 3-2, they rallied in games six and seven to knock off the Cancuks and move on to the conference finals.
Unsurprisingly the Oilers’ success has come off the back of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Of course, this isn’t a surprise to anyone as these two have been the best players in hockey since they entered the league. Both players have scored over 20 points this playoff, however, Draisaitl has slightly edged out McDavid, scoring three more points. As well as being a force on the power play, he’s racked up a team-high six power-play goals. Of course, McDavid has been a huge help on special teams, tallying ten assists.
It’s not just McDavid and Draisaitl that have been getting it done for the Oilers. Several other players have been making a major impact as well. Evan Bouchard would be the guy everyone talking about if McDavid and Draisaitl weren’t on the team. Bouchard has 20 points these playoffs, with 15 of those coming from assists. In terms of getting the puck past the goalie, no one has been better at it than Zach Hyman. Hyman has a team-high 11 goals during the playoffs.
Prediction
There is one key difference between the Oilers and Stars, and that is the play of their goaltender. During the NHL playoffs, all you need is your goaltender to be hot, and you can make a deep playoff run. We’ve already talked about how Oettinger has performed this playoffs. However, the Oilers haven’t had the same luxury in net. Stuart Skinner has a .881 save percentage and a 2.87 goals-against average. Skinners’ performance has been so uninspired that the Oilers even put in backup netminder Calvin Pickard for a few games. He played better, but not enough to make the switch. Because of this, the Stars should have no problem wrapping this series up in six games.
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