Dallas Stars Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Stars deploy new lines ahead of Game 1 against Oilers

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated May 20, 2025 4:00 PM ET

The Dallas Stars are rolling with a new look lineup in their Tuesday practice before taking on the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.

Their top line stayed the same with Roope Hintz centring Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen, a dangerous trio who have scored nine of the Stars’ 20 five-on-five goals in the playoffs. The other lines have all been mixed up, however.

Their second line — which featured Matt Duchene centring Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in Game 6 against Winnipeg — now features Duchene centring Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. The third line sees Sam Steel between Mason Marchment and Seguin, while the fourth line has Oskar Back up the middle with Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov on his wings.

On the blue line, things have remained the same: Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen on the top pairing, Esa Lindell and Cody Ceci on the second, and Lian Bichsel and Alex Petrovic on the third.

Here is how Dallas lined up at practice today.
(Discuss among yourself)

Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
Robertson-Duchene-Johnston
Marchment-Steel-Seguin
Benn-Bäck-Dadonov
Smith-Bourque-Blackwell

Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Ceci
Bichsel-Petrovic
Lyubushkin-Dumba

— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) May 20, 2025

For the Stars, it’s a shift from the 11 forwards and seven defencemen deployment they ran when Heiskanen returned to the lineup against the Winnipeg Jets. At the time, they had Johnston and Robertson as the duo without a winger, rotating guys through that spot.

A pair of beat reporters covering the Stars, however, indicated that these lines might not stick and that the team could revert back to the 11 and 7 approach on Wednesday. “Let the Round 3 guessing games begin,” said Brien Rea, while Sam Nestler said “Keep in mind 11/7 is still on the table. Everything can change day to day at this point.”

The Oilers, who didn’t hold a practice Tuesday, had been running their same lineup Monday that carried them through their series against the Vegas Golden Knights, featuring Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl centring their own lines.

Game 1 will surely be interesting to watch to see how the Stars matchup their lines on home ice.

This article first appeared on Oilersnation and was syndicated with permission.

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