After several days of waiting in limbo, the Edmonton Oilers now know who they will be taking on in the Western Conference Final. That team will be the Dallas Stars, who were able to defeat the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 on Saturday night. This will be a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final, where the Oilers were able to eliminate the Stars in six games.
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These two teams have been heavy hitters in the West in recent years. This will mark the Oilers’ third Western Conference Final in four years, while the Stars have now made it to this point in three straight seasons. It’s expected to be a very close battle between two elite teams. Should the Oilers come out on top, they will need these four things to go in their favour.
Power Play Needs to Improve
In past years, the Oilers have often gotten by, especially in the playoffs, thanks to the brilliance of their power play. This year has been different, as they are getting plenty of even-strength scoring thanks to several depth pieces stepping up. While that is a positive, their power play struggles as of late have been a concern.
The Oilers’ power play really struggled against the Vegas Golden Knights, making it rather surprising that they were able to get by in just five games. That speaks largely to how well they are playing at even strength, but the team is well aware this is something they’ll need to be better at against a lethal Stars group.
“Our five-on-five game has been really good. Our specialty teams will need to get going here,” Connor McDavid said. “Starts with the power play, our power plays got to find a way to be a factor in this series, and we will.”
Skinner Needs to Start Hot
The playoffs have been a rollercoaster ride for Stuart Skinner. He was replaced by Calvin Pickard after two rough starts versus the LA Kings, but got the net back partway through the second round due to an injury to his goalie partner. He’s rebounded in incredible fashion, posting back-to-back shutouts to knock off the Golden Knights.
The issue for Skinner is that his numbers to begin a series, versus those in the latter half, are vastly different. He will need to find a way to keep his recent play going, as it’s of the utmost importance that the Oilers don’t put themselves into a hole before heading back to Rogers Place for Games 3 and 4.
McDavid and Draisaitl Need to Step Up Their Play
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are rightfully considered the best playoff performers in the game today, though so far this year, they’ve been rather quiet. The Oilers captain had just five points in five games versus the Golden Knights, while his counterpart had six. The fact that those numbers are viewed as disappointing speaks to how much is expected of them, but they’ll need to pick things up in order to compete with a Stars team that is loaded with scoring talent.
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A big part of their numbers being down is due to the previously mentioned struggles on the power play. It’s worth noting that the Stars’ penalty kill has been very good in the postseason at 86.1 percent, though the Oilers’ dynamic power play group has exposed great penalty kills in the past. Getting it back on track would obviously help improve McDavid and Draisaitl’s totals.
Nurse Needs to Be at His Best
While Mattias Ekholm hasn’t been ruled out for the entirety of this series, it has been confirmed that he won’t play in the opening two games. That update suggests that even if he does return, he will be far from full health, which means the rest of the blue line as a collective whole will need to be at their best.
The biggest concern of the bunch is Darnell Nurse, who has struggled in past playoff runs and has been quite inconsistent thus far. When at his best, he can be a complete force, as he is a great skater, can shut down opponents, and makes a great first pass that can lead to scoring chances. The Oilers will need the best version of Nurse to knock off the Stars, as it’s unclear what Ekholm will be able to provide should he be able to return.
Thrilling Series Ahead
Though the Oilers came out on top of this battle last year, this Stars team is an even more dangerous bunch this go around. The big reason for that was the acquisition of Mikko Rantanen, who has been as advertised with nine goals and 19 points in 13 games. That said, the Oilers have plenty of weapons of their own, which should allow for this series to be one of, if not the best, we’ve seen yet in this year’s playoffs.
