Oilers vs. Stars: Game 5 Information, Line Combinations, Starting Goaltenders, and More

The Edmonton Oilers are one win away from heading back to the Stanley Cup Final.

The defending champions have already punched their ticket, as the Florida Panthers took down the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday.

A win by Edmonton over the Dallas Stars on Thursday would stage a rematch of last year’s Cup Final between the Oilers and Panthers. Let’s get set for Game 5.

Oilers vs. Stars Game 5 Information

• Date: Thursday, May 29, 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: With Zach Hyman done for the playoffs because of a wrist injury, Jeff Skinner will draw into Edmonton’s lineup for the first time since Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. Corey Perry was moved up to the Oilers’ top forward line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during the team’s morning skate on Thursday, while Leon Draisaitl had Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen on his wings. Mattias Ekholm will make his playoff debut for the Oilers in Game 5. The veteran defender dealt with a combination of illness and injury during the latter part of the regular season and hasn’t played a full game since late March. Ekholm was skating with Evan Bouchard on the team’s top defensive pairing, and Troy Stecher was the defenceman bumped out of the lineup.
• Stars: Roope Hintz drew back into the lineup for Dallas after missing Game 3 with a foot injury. The team’s top centre wasn’t able to generate much offensively, as the Stars’ top line with Hintz, Mikko Rantanen, and Jason Robertson only mustered five shot attempts in 11:33 of play at even strength. The most effective line for the Stars in Game 4 was Tyler Seguin, Mason Marchment, and Matt Duchene, as the trio threw 20 shot attempts at Edmonton’s goal in 9:24 at even strength.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: Stuart Skinner was excellent again for the Oilers in Game 4, stopping 28 of 29 shots that the Stars put on goal. The only goal that Dallas scored was a high-blocker snipe by Jason Robertson on the power play. After allowing five goals in Game 1, Skinner posted a .977 save percentage across Edmonton’s wins in Games 2 to 4.
• Stars: Jake Oettinger had his best showing of the Western Conference Final in Game 4, stopping 29 of 31 shots in a losing effort. In Games 1 to 3, Oettinger allowed 12 goals on 76 shots for a .842 save percentage. The Stars need Oettinger to play like he did on Tuesday if they’re going to keep this series alive.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 5

• Teams that are up 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series have gone on to win that series 91 percent of the time in NHL history. The last time we saw a team come back from 3-1 down to win a series was back in 2023 when the Panthers beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. The Oilers came back from 3-1 down to upset the Colorado Avalanche in the 1998 playoffs, and they had a three-game comeback in 1990 against the Winnipeg Jets on their way to their fifth Stanley Cup. The only time in team history the Oilers have blown a 3-1 series lead was in 1989 to Wayne Gretzky and the L.A. Kings.
• Though beating the Oilers three times in a row is a significant challenge, the Stars are confident they can come back and win this series. “You don’t have to look any further than the Stanley Cup Final last year,” head coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday. “The team we’re playing were down 3-0 and forced a Game 7. We’ve got to win one game [on Thursday night], and then a do-or-die in Edmonton in Game 6, to try and get a Game 7 back here at home… We’re close. Listen, give them credit, they’re up 3-1, they found a way. The series could be 2-2 pretty easily, too.”
• While getting Mattias Ekholm back will be a major boost to Edmonton’s blueline, the injury to Zach Hyman is a very unfortunate loss for the Oilers’ forward group. Hyman scored five goals and 11 points over 15 playoff games and threw a whopping 111 hits over those games. Without Hyman in the lineup, the Oilers will be looking to Evander Kane, Trent Frederic, Kasperi Kapanen, and Vasily Podkolzin to keep up the physical play. Game 5 will also be an opportunity for Jeff Skinner to show that he can contribute in the playoffs. He was a minus-two in Game 1 against the Kings and hasn’t suited up since.
• “There are going to be times when guys are banged up, and that’s part of the game,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Right now, we’re missing some guys who are unavailable to play. Obviously, Zach’s going to be a huge hole, but we’re fortunate to have a lot of depth where guys can come in and step up and give us quality minutes… He’s put everything out there. You look at everything he’s done over the last two years. Last year, he scored about 70 goals and had numerous big, important goals in the playoffs. This year, he’s scored key goals, but the physical department, how many hits he had and his two-way play were tremendous. And now that we’re going to be missing him, we’ll need other guys to step up.”