They meet again.
And while the Dallas Stars, like the Edmonton Oilers, have made a few personnel changes since the two National Hockey League teams met in the Western Conference final a year ago, star Leon Draisaitl said he expects the playoff rematch that starts Wednesday in Texas will come down to who is sharper.
“There are lots of things that are going to be similar in the way they play and the way we play, but there’s new personnel on both sides,” Draisaitl, who led the Oilers in scoring (106 points) and was tops among NHL goal-scorers (52) in 2024-25, told media after practice on Monday. “They know how we want to play, we know really well how they want to play.
“It’s just going to come down to who executes better.”
The Oilers beat the Stars last May to advance to the Stanley Cup final, finishing them off in six games. Once again, Dallas is the higher seed, and the Central Division powerhouse is coming off a six-game second-round series victory over the Winnipeg Jets, the NHL’s top team in the regular season.
Fellow Oilers star Connor McDavid told media after practice Sunday it’s well-known the Stars are deep with talented players, “but we’re a deep team, too.”
“This doesn’t feel like it’s anything other than ordinary at this point, to be in this position, all while understanding that it’s a unique situation.”
— Connor McDavid
“This doesn’t feel like it’s anything other than ordinary at this point, to be in this position, all while understanding that it’s a unique situation,” McDavid said, pointing out this year’s conference final berth is their third in the last four years. “We’ve got to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, echoing his players, said Sunday the matchup with the Stars will be familiar territory although with the added wrinkle of some different personnel.
“Their style of play is almost identical,” Knoblauch said. “I don’t think they’ve changed anything with their systems or really how they approach the game.”
One of those Dallas wrinkles offers a big crease, especially around the Oilers’ goal crease, in winger Mikko Rantanen, the leading NHL playoffs scorer with 19 – McDavid is second with 17 points, Draisaitl third with 16 – who the Stars acquired at the trade deadline from the Carolina Hurricanes, who will face off against the defending champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference final.
Regardless, Knoblauch said he feels the Oilers can expect more of the same from their next opponent as from a year ago.
“The trade with Rantanen obviously being the biggest (addition), that changes their identity a little bit,” he said.
“Looking through the rosters from last year, from our team to theirs, I think each team has probably five or six new players, so the team is a little bit different, but I think the identity of the systems that each one’s playing is very similar.”
Beware Stars’ pass rush: coach
Knoblauch said the Stars will be a threat in the same way the Vegas Golden Knights were to the Oilers in previous round: off the pass rush.
He told media that Vegas had the most goals that way during the regular season, with Dallas placing second. In 2023-24, it was the Stars who were tops, the Oilers’ bench boss said.
“It’s a bit of their identity, and it’s something they’re very good at,” he said. “If we’re turning over pucks, (are) slow on our back check and our gaps are soft, we’re going to get exposed.
“That attack is not just the forwards, it’s a lot of their defencemen joining up in the rush. They all do it, but (Miro) Heiskanen and (Thomas) Harley (the Stars’ top pairing) are definitely the most dangerous.”
Ekholm practises in full
Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm was a full participant at practice Monday, his first in about two months while he recovers from injury.
Knoblauch said the team did not yet know if the top-pairing defenceman would be making the trip to Dallas for the first two games of the series.
“I feel good,” Ekholm said after practice. “I didn’t think I was going to be in this position this quick, so I’m really happy about that.”
