The Dallas Stars take on the Edmonton Oilers on the national stage in a battle of two Western Conference playoff teams.
The Edmonton Oilers head to Dallas for the first time this season to take on the Stars in a Saturday matinee showdown. The only meeting between these two teams came in November, where the Stars hung on 4-3 in Edmonton despite getting caved in for over 20 shots in the third period.
That was a completely different Oilers team than this one, though. Former head coach Jay Woodcroft was fired 10 days after that game after a 3-9-1 start, and was replaced by Kris Knoblauch, Connor McDavid's coach from junior hockey.
Instantly, the team regrouped and goalie Stuart Skinner found his game. Beginning halfway through December and lasting through All-Star Weekend, the Oilers went on a franchise record 16 game winning streak.
The streak was finally snapped by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first game after the All-Star break. Since then, the Oilers have gone 2-3-0. The Stars, however, are 4-1-0 since returning from the break, and are coming off a massive 9-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Eleven different Stars players had a point in the blowout and seven had multi-point nights.
What to look for:
- Connor McDavid: this one seems like a no brainer, as McDavid is usually pretty inevitable. He has tallied thirteen points in his last five games, largely in part to a SIX assist night against Detroit on Tuesday. However, in the last ten games against Dallas, McDavid only has three goals and Miro Heiskanen is front and center as to why the superstar hasn't had as much recent success against the Stars.He is one of the few defensemen that not only can keep up with McDavid, but shut him down as well, making him one of the few in the league that has the ability to neutralize the best talent in the NHL.
- Mason Marchment: Marchment is now on an eight-game point streak, which is a career high for him. He had a two point night against the Predators, assisting on Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin's goals. He is close to surpassing career highs, and if that line continues the way it has played so far, he will have all new marks to try and beat moving forward.
- The Stars have been shining bright on the national stage. Dallas has had seven nationally broadcasted games thus far in the season (TNT, ABC, ESPN, ESPN+). In those games, the Stars have gone 5-1-1, beating Columbus, Washington, Minnesota, Los Angeles and Nashville. In those games, they have out-scored their opponents 36-18, with both losses by one goal including one in overtime against the Golden Knights.
Projected lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Dellandrea
Steel-Faksa-Smith
Harley-Heiskanen
Suter-Hanley
Lindell-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Wedgewood
Defenseman Nils Lundkvist suffered an injury against Nashville, meaning Joel Hanley will slot in for the first time since Toronto. Hanley was paired with Suter to start that game. Heiskanen will surely double shift against the top heavy Oilers forward group.
Dallas also got Jake Oettinger some unexpected rest in the third period in Nashville, as Scott Wedgewood played a fairly uneventful final period in the seven goal victory. Oettinger should be ready to go for the afternoon game.
The game can be seen at 2 p.m. on ABC immediately following the Kings-Bruins game, and on ESPN+.
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