The Dallas Stars are taking on the Edmonton Oilers later tonight in the Western Conference Finals for the second-straight year in a row. It will be a battle between two highly loaded teams that know what it feels like to come up just short of their dreams. The Dallas Stars are looking to return to the Stanley Cup Finals after finishing short of their goal the past two seasons. The Edmonton Oilers are looking to get revenge on the Florida Panthers for beating them in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Since this is the second year the Stars are playing the Edmonton Oilers are playing the Stars in the Western Conference Finals, I thought I would sit down with Oil On Whyte Site Expert Devon Hladunewich and talk about some of the different storylines with this series and who he thinks will move on to the Stanley Cup Finals this year.
One of the topics that I wanted to ask him about was the newest addition to the Finnish Mafia, Mikko Rantanen. Since he was the hot topic of the trade deadline this season, Hladunewich mentioned Rantanen brings another challenge for the Oilers this year.
“The biggest difference in the series this time around is the addition of Mikko Rantanen,” Hladunewich said. “Rantanen is a star in the NHL, and so far in the playoffs, he has shown just that. He single-handedly beat the Colorado Avalanche in game 7 of the first round.”
To continue with the topic of Rantanen, I wanted his expertise on which line could slow down the biggest star in the NHL Playoffs this year, since it will be the Oilers' top priority in this series.
“To slow down Rantanen, the Oilers will need to do what they did against Jack Eichel in the Vegas series,” Hladunewich said. “In that series, they played the Draisaitl line against Eichel; I would expect them to do that against Rantanen.”
One thing we both agree on is that Skinner will be the starting goaltender for the Oilers in this series. He was the starting goaltender going into the playoffs before Calvin Pickard was put in because of how badly Skinner was playing. Based on how he played against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers have no choice but to play him because of how he did, and Pickard got injured against the Golden Knights.
One of the other questions I asked him was about the media coverage of the Stars during their playoff run. Hladunewich said the Stars got more airtime this year because they played the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets, which is absolutely true.
However, I do wish the media would continue to talk about the Stars after they win a playoff series. Chris Chambers of the Starcastic Remarks podcast mentioned how the Spittin Chiclets podcast only gave 3 minutes to recapping the Stars and Jets series. It’s like the media thinks the Stars are an afterthought because hockey doesn’t belong in Texas.
I did want to wrap up and ask him about what his series prediction was. Hladunewich said while it feels like a “homer pick,” he’s got the Edmonton Oilers winning in six games over the Stars. He added the Edmonton Oilers are playing like all business right now and have their minds set on winning the Stanley Cup this season. It will be another exciting playoff series between the Oilers and the Stars. May the best Western Conference team advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.