Oilers vs. Stars: Game 2 Information, Line Combinations, Starting Goaltenders, and More

The Edmonton Oilers will be looking at even the Western Conference Final at one game each when they face the Stars in Dallas for Game 2 on Friday night.

Heading back to Edmonton with a split in Games 1 and 2 would put the Oilers in the driver’s seat as the team with home-ice advantage. Last season, they won Game 1 in double overtime and lost Game 2 on the road before clinching the series at home in Game 6.

No matter how this series goes, the Oilers have to win in Dallas to beat the Stars. Let’s get set for Game 2.

Oilers vs. Stars Game 2 Information

• Date: Friday, May 23, 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: Two of Edmonton’s three goals on Wednesday came at even strength and one was on the power play. All three were scored with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice. Draisaitl played about the same amount of time on McDavid’s wing in Game 1 as he did as the centre of his own line. The trouble for the Oilers in the series-opening game was their play without their top two forwards on the ice. Adam Henrique’s line with Evander Kane and Connor Brown struggled and the fourth line wasn’t noticeable.
• Stars: The story for Dallas coming into the Western Conference Final was depth scoring, as their top line scored more than half of the team’s goals over the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Stars got offence from their second and third lines in Game 1 against Edmonton, with Tyler Seguin scoring two goals and Matt Duchene drawing a penalty before scoring on the power play.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: Stuart Skinner came into the Western Conference Final riding back-to-back shutout wins to clinch Edmonton’s second-round series over the Vegas Golden Knights. He was rock-solid for the first 40 minutes of Game 1 against Dallas, and then, like the rest of the team, struggled in the third. The Stars tagged Skinner for five goals on 27 shots before adding an empty-netter. With Calvin Pickard on the shelf, the Oilers will be going back to Skinner in Game 2.
• Stars: Jake Oettinger allowed three goals in the first two periods of Game 1 against the Oilers and then completely shut things down in the third. Oettinger turned aside 24 of 27 shots in the win. He now has a .917 save percentage over 14 games in the playoffs.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 2

• Teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven playoff series have gone on to win that series 87.5 percent of the time in NHL history. The Oilers fell behind 2-0 in their first-round series against the Kings, dropping Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, and then won four straight games to take the series in six. It was only the second time in team history that the Oilers have come back to win a playoff series after going down 2-0, with the other instance coming against the San Jose Sharks in 2006. The Oilers also nearly became the second team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final last spring, so everyone knows this team can win despite having their backs against the wall. Despite that success, the Oilers will wear themselves down having to play from behind. Splitting Games 1 and 2 in Dallas and heading back to Edmonton with home-ice advantage would put the team in a prime position to grab hold of the series.
• The Oilers played a strong 40 minutes in Game 1 and completely melted down in the third frame. Three penalties led to three power-play goals for the Stars and Edmonton couldn’t get the momentum back in their favour after that. It’s difficult to beat a team as good as Dallas in the Conference Finals without playing a complete minute game. The Oilers need to play a strong 60 minutes in Game 2, and the players seem confident that they’re going to do so.
• “This group has always responded to these types of situations pretty well and I expect the same [Friday] night,” Connor McDavid said on Thursday. “We’ve had disappointment in various different runs and various times in these playoffs and responded really, really well. I expect to do that again [in Game 2].”
• “You don’t want to go down 0-2. It’s that simple,” Corey Perry said. “But I think after [the loss in Game 1], with the way that it all went down and what happened, everybody’s got that feeling that we let one slip away. We’re a little upset this morning. So you go out and use it to your advantage. You play harder, you do the little things a little harder, and the bigger things will happen. That second game is important. You start on the road and you’re hoping for a split. We have that opportunity [Friday].”