Oilers vs. Stars: Game 1 Information, Line Combinations, Starting Goaltenders, and More

We’ve got ourselves a Western Conference Final with two familiar foes.

The Stars knocked the Oilers out of the playoffs five times in seven years during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it’ll be Dallas looking for revenge against Edmonton this time around. The Oilers opened last year’s third-round series in Dallas with a double-overtime victory over the Stars and ultimately took the series in six games.

Let’s get set for Game 1 of this year’s rematch.

Oilers vs. Stars Game 1 Information

• Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
• Start Time: 6:00 PM MT
• Location: Dallas, Texas
• Venue: American Airlines Center
• Watch: CBC/SN (Canada), ESPN (USA), Fubo (Stream)

Projected Line Combinations

• Oilers: Not much was different for Edmonton when the team practiced on Monday for the first time since beating the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 last week. Connor McDavid was centring the top line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, while Leon Draisaitl had Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen on his wings. The third line consisted of Evander Kane, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown, with Trent Frederic, Mattias Janmark, and Corey Perry making up the fourth line. On the blueline, Evan Bouchard skated with Brett Kulak, Darnell Nurse was with Troy Stecher, and John Klingberg was with Jake Walman. Mattias Ekholm, who hasn’t suited up in the playoffs because of injury, skated with Ty Emberson on the fourth defensive pairing. Ekholm isn’t expected to make his return to the lineup until later in the series.
• Stars: The All-Finnish top line of Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz, and Mikko Rantanen have combined for 18 of the 34 goals Dallas has scored in the playoffs thus far. With the rest of the team combining for 16 goals in 13 playoff games, the Stars mixed their forward lines up ahead of the Western Conference Final. Wyatt Johnston, who has a team-low minus-13 rating, was moved to the wing with Matt Duchene down the middle and Jason Robertson on the left side. Veteran Tyler Seguin practiced on the third line with Sam Steel and Mason Marchment, while captain Jamie Benn was on the fourth line with Oskar Back and Evgenii Dadonov. Miro Heiskanen made his playoffs debut for the Stars in their second-round series against the Winnipeg Jets and is back on the top defensive pairing with Thomas Harley. The shutdown pairing of Esa Lindell and Cody Cedi led the Stars in ice time through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: Stuart Skinner was the MVP of the Western Conference Final last year for the Oilers. He posted a .922 save percentage across six games, stopping 142 of 154 shots. The 5-3 loss in Game 3 was the only game that Skinner allowed more than two goals against. The highlight of the series for Skinner came at home in Game 6 when the Edmonton native stopped 33 of 34 shots in a 2-1 victory. Skinner struggled in his first two starts of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, but has been excellent since coming into the net for injured Calvin Pickard against the Golden Knights. After dropping Game 3 with a last-second loss, Skinner posted back-to-back shutouts in Games  4 and 5 as the Oilers clinched the series.
• Stars: Jake Oettinger has been excellent for the Stars in the playoffs following a somewhat shaky regular season showing. The former Vezina Trophy candidate posted a .909 save percentage over 58 games this season and has a .919 save percentage in 13 playoff games. Last year, Oettinger had a .918 save percentage in the first two rounds of the playoffs for Dallas and then put up a .901 save percentage in six games in the team’s loss to the Oilers. He was very solid in Games 1 to 3 but struggled in the latter part of the series, allowing nine goals on 64 shots as Edmonton took Games 4 to 6.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 1

• The big story for the Stars in the playoffs this year has been the team’s lack of depth scoring. Their All-Finnish top line has been incredible and Mikko Rantanen looks like the early favourite for the Conn Smythe Trophy, but the rest of the forward group is getting caved in. Over 120 minutes at even strength, Rantanen, Roope Hintz, and Mikael Granlund are outscoring the opposition 7-to-2. Over 371 minutes at even strength without those three on the ice, the Stars are being outscored 9-to-17. Wyatt Johnston has four goals, but that comes with a minus-13 rating, and Tyler Seguin has two goals. Beyond those players, no forward on the Stars has more than one goal through the team’s 13 playoff games.
• Last year, the Oilers held the Stars to 14 goals in six games. They got three goals from Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson, two goals from Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment, one goal from Jamie Benn, and three goals from the blueline. The team now has Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund in their forward group instead of Logan Stankoven and Joe Pavelski, who were both held off the board in last year’s Western Conference Final. Dealing with the Finn line will be a new challenge for the Oilers, and the Stars need other forwards to get going to take pressure off their top line.
• The Stars didn’t have an answer for Edmonton’s top forward line last year, as Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined for eight goals in six games. The Oilers outscored Dallas 5-to-2 in 72 even-strength minutes with McDavid and Esa Lindell on the ice at the same time, and Edmonton outscored the Stars 3-to-1 in 50 minutes with McDavid going up against Miro Heiskanen. McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman each had game-winning goals in last year’s Western Conference Final. The other game-winning goal for the Oilers in that series came from former Star Mattias Janmark in Game 4.