EDMONTON – Let’s get down to business.
The Edmonton Oilers steamrolled through their first two opponents, the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights. However, things won’t be that easy against the Dallas Stars.
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Mikko Rantanen is on a mission to prove that the Colorado Avalanche were foolish in moving on from him. Everyone praises the depth of the Stars, and it’s hard not to be excited about your star defender coming back (Miro Heiskanen).
Some patterns emerge from the numbers. This is a very winnable series for the Oilers, especially if they continue to get secondary scoring, exploit Jake Oettinger’s weakness, and neutralize the Stars’ most significant threat.
Here are the three key things the Oilers must do to come out of the other side victorious against the Stars.
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The biggest knock on the Oilers in previous years was their inability to succeed without Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl pushing the bus. In the 2025 playoffs, that’s simply not the case.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers outscore their opponents 16-9 when their top two forwards aren’t on the ice. That is incredibly impressive.
Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, and Corey Perry have all scored two or more goals. Their continued offensive spark will be needed for the Oilers to move on to the final round.
Exploit Jake Oettinger’s Weakness
Oettinger has been excellent for the Stars. However, like every other player, he has weaknesses.
The two locations that Oettinger has allowed the most goals from are the mid-range blocker side and right in front of the crease. According to NHL Edge data, the Oilers are above average in shots from mid-range blocker side.
They can pick their spots with Oettinger by utilizing that weakness and continuing their trend of crashing the net and generating scoring chances from in tight.
Neutralize Mikko Rantanen
For all of the flak that the Oilers have gotten about their depth needing to step up, that isn’t the narrative for the Stars. But when you look at the numbers, it should be.
The Stars are outscored 9-18 when Rantanen isn’t on the ice (NatStatTrick) and have an advantage of 11-4 when he is.
They didn’t get to their current position through luck. However, having the NHL playoff leading scorer steamroll through the competition has given the Stars the edge. They have also gotten timely scoring from their depth.
If Brown, Perry, and Henrique can keep rolling, the Oilers can crash the net with possession, and Draisaitl can work the same magic on Rantanen that he did on Jack Eichel; the Oilers will move on to their second Stanley Cup Final in two years.
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