“It’s going to be a man’s game”: Oilers size up Stars playoff matchup
The Edmonton Oilers have dispatched the Vancouver Canucks and have now set their sights on the Western Conference Finals.
Their opponent will be the Dallas Stars, who are coming off two impressive series wins over the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. It’ll be a different beast for the Oilers as the Stars are considered one of the deepest teams in the entire NHL, with four solid lines, three dependable defensive pairings, and one of the league’s best goaltenders.
It’ll be this team’s biggest challenge to date, and it’s one that Oilers captain Connor McDavid isn’t taking lightly.
“They’re as deep a team as you’re going to find in the NHL,” McDavid told reporters following last night’s victory. “It’ll be a great test, but we’re looking forward to it.”
"I thought we did a great job of bending but not breaking."
McDavid on the #Oilers resiliency in tonight’s Game 7 win. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/U7r7cLkTts
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 21, 2024
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had himself quite a series against his hometown Canucks. He wound up scoring the series-winner on a second-period PP marker and finished with 10 points in seven games against Vancouver.
Nugent-Hopkins says they know what to expect from the Stars in the next round.
“We played them three times throughout the year; we know that they’re a deep team,” the longest-tenured Oiler told reporters last night. “Against anybody at this point, you need everybody going, and I think all series, we had four lines rolling, six D going, and two when we needed to.
“It shows a lot when everyone can get the job done.”
"It’s never going to be easy in a Game 7 against a good hockey team but we found a way."
Nugent-Hopkins speaks after registering a goal & assist in tonight’s series over the Canucks. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/m53Pvt0txC
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 21, 2024
Edmonton had a 1-2-0 record against the Stars this season and, overall, played them pretty well in all three of those matchups. The Oilers showed that a losing record against a team in the regular season is all but meaningless with their victory over the Canucks, and they will have to prove that once again with the Stars.
Leon Draisaitl is not expecting Dallas to take it easy on the Oilers.
“It’s going to be a man’s game,” Draisaitl said. “That’s a really good team; they’ll be ready for us, but so will we.”
"You need everybody…we had everyone going."
Leon Draisaitl & Evan Bouchard address the media from Vancouver as the #Oilers advance to Round 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/LPM5xQOhka
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 21, 2024
This isn’t new territory for most of the players on this team. They advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. This time around, they will have much higher ambitions to finally reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history since 2006.
The schedule for the series has already been released by the NHL with Game 1 slated to go in Dallas on Thursday night.
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