Pre-Game Report: Edmonton Oilers vs Dallas Stars | Round 3, Game 5

Pre-Game Report: Edmonton Oilers vs Dallas Stars | Round 3, Game 5

Hello Oilers fans. Austin here with today’s pregame report for game five between the Oilers and the Dallas Stars. The Oilers with a win would book their second consecutive ticket to the Stanley Cup final following in the footsteps of the Florida Panthers who took care of business in game five of their conference final matchup against the Hurricanes last night. However, this job is going to be difficult for Edmonton than it was maybe a couple nights ago because Zack Heyman is confirmed to be out for the rest of the postseason. He needs wrist surgery for a broken wrist. So, obviously, we’re all hoping that Zack Heyman rests up, gets healthy, and is ready to go for training camp, but there’s still a job to do. And I have no doubt in my mind today that the Oilers are going to rally as a team. They’re going to rally around Zack Heyman, and they’re going to get the job done tonight. But the Dallas Stars have a lot of say in their own locker room whether Edmonton can and will get that job done. So there’s a lot to talk about in today’s pregame report, including the projected lineups because without Heyman, who the heck is going to step into the lineup? We know Matias is close to returning. Does the team go 11 and seven? We’ll discuss that. I’ll discuss all of the playoff stats, all the numbers, the advanced stats, the regular stats. I’ll also go over the keys to the game for both teams, players to watch, and the score prediction. Make sure to hit like on the video. goes a long way in supporting the channel. And uh yeah, let’s just jump right into it. The projected lineups for the Edmonton Oilers. Now, because Zack Heyman is going to be gone, these projected lineups, none of this is even remotely confirmed. These are just kind of the lines that I went by uh from uh uh what’s it called? Daily Face Off. So, Daily Face Off kind of had these lines specifically, although they did have Stetcher up at forward with Frederick and Yanmark. Don’t imagine Stcher would play too much forward if they went 11 and seven, but I guess we’ll have to find out. The top line for the Oilers could be Ryan Nan Hopkins, Conor McDavid, and Cory Perry. Together as a line, the sample size is small, but they do hold a 78.87 expected goals, four percentage at five on five. If the team decided to put those three together, of course, in their small sample, they have had some success together. Cory Perry, he’s been so versatile all postseason long. He has six goals which is unbelievable. The Ageless Wonder has been phenomenal for Edmonton. Conor McDavid, he is going to be motivated. He understands what’s at stake here. He understands that this team is so close to getting back to where they want to be. I have no doubt in my mind that no matter who McDavid plays with tonight, he is going to be a differencemaker on the ice. And Nan Hopkins is probably the MVP of this entire series for Edmonton. He has nine points in the four games. He’s had a multi-point game in every single game of the series. Look for him to continue his strong play. He’s also going to be very motivated in playing for Zack Heyman as well. Nan McDavid, their usual line mate is Heyman, of course, they have lots of guys that can step into that role and uh we’ll see how that top line does tonight. On the second line, you could see the re uh reunited line of Vasil Pod Coulson, Leon Dryidle, and Victor Arvdson. This was a line that got a pretty decent amount of ice time together in the regular season. They started as a line once the playoffs started, but they didn’t have too much success together and then eventually Victor Arbertson was pulled out of the lineup entirely. That line so far in the postseason in a pretty small sample size, 45.82 expected goals for percentage. So, not like horrifically bad, but also not good. We’ll have to see how Arvitz continues to respond after he was taken out of the lineup uh earlier in the playoffs. I felt his first game back against the Dallas Stars was actually pretty effective. He was quite the wrecking ball out there. And of course, you’re not going to be able to replace Heyman’s 10 hits per game that he was averaging. But Victor Arbitson, he can play that grindy style. Hit guys into the corners, try and grind pucks out, uh, get them loose, get them to Dry Cidle, and let Dry Cidle do his thing whether Dryidle wants to shoot or pass for some shots. Third line, you could see Evander Kane, Adam Henrique, and Casper Kenan. Now, Kappain is another player where, you know, he’s had an up and down season. He didn’t play for most of the playoffs. He was reinserted in that Vegas series and he has been a wrecking ball. He has been very effective. He had an empty netter against Dallas in game four and this is a line that you could see get put together. Their expected goals for is unknown. They have not played as a trio yet this postseason. Now I would imagine that Chris Knobblock likely elevates Evander Kane into a top six role. I would, you know, Zack Heyman, yes, the physicality is going to be missed, but Vander Kane can fill that physicality and also the goal scoring. Now, Heyman hasn’t been scoring at that prolific rate that he had been in years past in the postseason. Last year, he had 16 goals in the playoffs. This year, he was sitting at five before his injury. Evander Kane is someone that can also put the puck in the net. Don’t be surprised if you see Kane get that top six ice time. I think Evander Kane has deserved to get that look. Now, Evander Kane, he did take an awkward hit in game four. He was kind of, you know, scrunching his neck a little bit. Hopefully, he’s at 100%. Obviously, this time of year, guys are dealing with a lot of things, but Evander Kane didn’t look as effective in game four against Dallas as he had been earlier in the series. So, hopefully Kane is good to go. And if they do ask him to play a top six role, he should be ready. His legs should be uh sharp and fresh. And uh I’m very much looking forward to Evander Kane tonight. He could be a big difference maker for the team. And on the fourth line, Frederick Yanmark and whoever they decide to possibly insert into the lineup. On the right side of the screen, you’ll see the optional forwards that they have available to them. They have Jeff Skinner, who played one game against the Kings and has not seen the ice time since. You have Noah Phelp, big body. He could play center. He can penalty kill. He’s physical, okay skater, not the best, but Noah Phelp is someone that they could try and insert if Matias Ekcom is not ready to go. They have Matthew Seavoy who had a few games uh in in the regular season after the Four Nations. Max Jones and Derek Ryan. Uh those are long shots to draw into the lineup no matter what they bring to the team. I would be hardressed to believe Knobblock would put either of them in. Um because it seems like Knoblock is really looking for a little bit of skill, a little bit of tenacity, a little bit of speed at the same time. Uh now Skinner, he doesn’t have that speed, but he does have the skill. He does have a shot. He can put the puck in the net. Noah Phelp seems to be the most likely option if someone was inserted. Uh especially for that fourth line depending how guys are moving up and down the lineup. I would probably put Noah Phelp in personally. He helps on the penalty kill. That’s something that Zack Heyman also did. Uh and Noah Philp is someone that can take center. Uh he can take draws. That’s something that the Oilers have been struggling with in this series. So keep an eye out. We’ll see. By the time you watch this, you’ll know who’s in and who’s out. But no Philp is someone that I would keep an eye on personally. Now, when it comes to the defensive core for this team, if Ekkome is not ready to go, then you’ll have Koulak with Bousard, who uh control 66.32 expected goals together. Uh they have been phenomenal. Bulak and Bousard have been absolutely mint together. Evan Bousard has been a revelation on the defensive side of the puck in the postseason. Even the biggest Bousard critics have to admit how strong Bousard has played defensively in the playoffs so far. Whatever contract he gets, he is earning it with his postseason play. Say what you will about him during the regular season. Say what you will about him during cherrypicked highlights that make him look really, really bad. But as someone that has been defending Bousard for as long as I have, uh it’s real good to see him contributing meaningfully on the defensive side, we know he has his warts when it comes to the defensive play, but when the playoffs start, Evan Buchard turns it up to another level. He just hits the level that uh most players can’t get to this time of year, and that shows how valuable he has been. On the second pair, you will likely see Darnell Nurse with Troy Stcher. Once again, they have a 53.02 expected goals for percentage together. These stats are from Natural Statrick, by the way, uh with the line tool. You can take a look at different uh uh combinations if you ever want to check that out. Uh Nurse and Ster, they have been just fine together. I really like Troy Stetcher’s game. If Matias Ekholm is good to go, I would be disappointed if they took Stetcher out of the lineup. Personally, I like what Stetcher has brought. I like that he has been able to calm Darnell Nurse down just a little bit. I still think you want a little bit more from Nurse in general right now. I don’t think he has played awful. He hasn’t played great though. Now, compared to last year’s playoffs, Darnell Nurse has obviously been much much better because he hasn’t been stuck with Cody Cece the whole time. Of course, CeCe is with the Dallas Stars right now. Sorry, Stars fans. I don’t know how much you like CC or not. CeCe is a hard worker. He works his absolute butt off, but I just don’t think he’s ever been worth what he has been told to play. Uh, he’s always being played in the top four, no matter where he goes for some reason. I don’t know what it is about teams valuing players like Cody Cece in that role. Cody Cece type players have a role. I just don’t think it should be 20 minutes a night personally. And for Darnell Nurse, of course, without Cody Cece this year has had much better metrics, much better on ice results. He has a couple goals in the postseason. Let’s see if he can find a way to uh break through. Maybe we see nurse break through and get one tonight. And then on the third pair, Jake Walman and John Quingberg. Though you could consider this the second pair for Edmonton with how strong they are together. 58.25 expected goals for percentage. Wman and Clingberg have been great. Wman has shown a little bit of cracks lately. The last couple games he definitely looks a little bit more shaky than he had been earlier in the postseason. Um, you know, his first couple games against LA didn’t go well, but then he really calmed down and played a terrific stretch of hockey. But I thought games three and four against Dallas, he looked a little bit shaky. John Clingberg, I thought, was having to cover for him a little bit too much uh or a little bit more than I would like. So, we’ll see if that defense pair can kind of just, you know, take a breath, relax. They’ve been great together overall. John Clingberg, of course, has been so much better than I could have hoped for. So, we’re very happy with Clingberg’s play. And Matias, of course, I put a little star next to his name. He could get into the lineup tonight. He’s very, very close to returning. Uh, but with the Oilers with the 3-1 series lead, we’ll have to see what Chris Knobblock wants to do. When we take a look at the goalender, Steuart Skinner will get the start, a 2.47 goals against average and a 910 save percentage since he has been reinserted as the starter in that Vegas series. Steuart Skinner has been absolutely lights out. Yes, he had a tough game three against Vegas at the end of the game. Yes, he had a tough game one against Dallas, but he has been overall phenomenal for Edmonton. He’s just been so so good this series. He was great against Vegas. He had two straight shutouts to win that series for the Oilers. And in this series against the Stars in his last three games, he has only given up two goals. Uh Steuart Skinner, listen, we’re getting uh we’re getting games four to seven Stew now as this series hits game five. And I have no doubt in my mind that Stu is going to continue to show up strong and help the team get a big win tonight. Now, when we take a look at the playoff stats, all stats are from Evolving Hockey in all situations. Power play for Dallas 31.4% which ranks third in the postseason. Penalty kill ranks fifth. It has dropped a little bit, 80.7%. They only scored 2.47 goals per game. The Dallas Stars have really struggled at putting the puck in the net lately. Some of that has to do with Edmonton’s defense. A lot of it has to do with the play of Steuart Skinner. Their top six forward group in Dallas is getting frustrated. And if the Oilers can find a way to score first tonight and prevent Dallas from scoring early, that frustration will build and build and then it becomes a mental battle as the game wears on. Goals against per game, Dallas ranks 10th, 3.18. Though I would not put most of that on Jakeer. I don’t think that what’s happening in this series is Jakeer’s fault. Jayinger played his best game of the series, probably his best game of the playoffs, actually in game four against Edmonton, but the Oilers still found a way to get the win. Now, Dallas’s expected goals in all situations ranks 10th in the playoffs, 47.57%. Their shots for percentage ranks 14th at 44.63% and their team save percentage ranks sixth at 89.79%. Now, when we take a look at the Oilers side, they are 11 and4. They have won uh 11 of their last 13 games since dropping the first two to the LA Kings, which is crazy. They are on an impressive 11-2 run. And their power play ranks fourth. It has been steadily climbing here 28.9%. Their penalty kill 66.7%. It still ranks uh bottom well bottom of the remaining playoff teams. Um but it has found a way to get a few clutch kills over the past couple of games. If the Oilers are to have a chance to win this series tonight, they got to stay out of the penalty box. Now they score 3.93 goals per game, which ranks second best in the postseason. They give up 2.80 80 goals per game, which ranks fourth. Their expected goals ranks first in the entire playoffs, 54.65%. Though that number has been dropping a little bit. Dallas’s metrics have been increasing a little bit. But Edmonton continues to overall play very, very well. Shots forward percentage ranks fifth and their team save percentage in the postseason ranks fourth at 89.92%. All thanks to the combination of Calvin Pickard and now Steuart Skinner who has decided that he is him. Dark Stew is here and hopefully he can help get the job done tonight. Now, the keys to the game for the Edmonton Oilers. Number one, score first. Number two, score often. Number three, finish the job. This is a business-like game for the Edmonton Oilers. Everyone understands on that team what they have to do to get the job done. This is a business-like mentality. If you saw the pictures of the team coming off the plane against Dallas, the Oilers on Twitter orex.com posted a whole bunch of pictures of all the players coming off the airplane. And uh I actually I’m going to show everyone a picture of Connor Brown because I absolutely love Connor Brown. And uh this is just I mean how how is Edmonton how is Edmonton going to lose the game when you got Connor Brown looking this darn good? Look at this man. Look at him. He is ready to go. He’s got his bottle of Fiji. Look at the rest of the Oilers. You got Pud Coulson. You got Kappa, you got Nurse, you got Henrik. The boys are looking good. They’re looking fresh. Cory Perry, look at Nan Hopkins. I mean, come on, man. The Oilers are looking stylish. You got Chris Knoblock in the background here. The boys are ready to go. They are looking fresh and we are feeling good about their chances tonight. Finish the job. Let’s get this thing done for Dallas. Number one, empty the tank. whatever they have left in that gas tank, they’re going to have to empty it to try and extend this series and hope that they have enough left to keep the series going post game five. But for Dallas, they uh they I mean, I would argue they ar they emptied the tank in the first period of game four and as the game went along, the Oilers started to press a lot more and Dallas was sitting back a lot more. I think the Dallas Stars have hit that point where they are tired. They are a little bit exhausted. There’s probably injuries being dealt with right now, especially to players like Rup Hints, who obviously is dealing with some sort of ankle or lower body injury. Uh for Dallas though, this is desperation hockey. It is desperation time. If they want a chance to continue this series, they’ve got to empty the tank, whatever they have in front of their home fans. And their crowd is going to be very loud tonight. Dallas Stars fans are some of the best in the entire NHL. They’re some of the loudest. They’re some of the most passionate. We love Stars fans here in Oil country and uh we know the fans are going to be on Dallas’s side. If you’re the Oilers, find a way to quiet down that crowd as soon as possible. Number two for Dallas, try and prevent the rush. The Oilers lately have been killing the Stars off the rush, off the transition game. If Dallas is not managing the puck, the Oilers are going to go down on their threeon twos, twoon ones, and uh you know, they’re going to get their good looks and there’s only so much Jay God can do to keep the team in it. prevent rush chances if you’re Dallas. And number three, special teams. The Oilers have had the edge in the special teams battle for the last three games. If you’re Dallas and you get more than a couple power play opportunities, you’ve got to capitalize. And if you take a couple penalties, you have to get a kill. The Oilers have been capitalizing on the power play lately. They had two goals in game four. So for Dallas, they have to stay out of the box because Edmonton’s power play is starting to heat up. And when we see that power play heat up, they are almost impossible to stop. Now, when it comes to the players to watch tonight, we’re going with the two big guns on each team. Conor McDavid for Edmonton because, like I said, with the injury to Zack Heyman, there’s going to be an extra chip on Conor McDavid’s shoulder as the leader, as the captain for Edmonton. He is going to ensure that Edmonton plays their best game of the entire series. They have to dig deep. They have to get more depth scoring. But Conor McDavid, he’s going to be the guy that leads by example tonight. And for the Dallas Stars, it’s going to be Mo Rantin. He does not have a goal yet in this series. And after he had his hot streak where he had about nine goals in five games, he had a couple hat-ticks. Uh he has really slowed down. His pace of play has slowed down a lot. He hasn’t been able to get those open looks that he was getting earlier in the playoffs. On the power play, when he does get the open looks, Steuart Skinner is square to him. A couple big glove saves in the last couple games on Rantin. But if Dallas has any chance of coming back in the series, any chance of extending the series tonight, Miko Rantin has to be a guy that produces. He has to get on the board tonight. Whether with an assist, whether within a goal, uh whether with a big hit, Rantin hasn’t been as visible as Dallas fans would like. And I, you know, I would think Rantin, he is instrumental in that team’s offense. Has to get going tonight. Now, when it comes to my score prediction, what is the score prediction going to be? Is Dallas going to extend this series back to Edmonton, or the Oilers going to get the job done tonight? I’m giving everyone the Austin Hockey guarantee that the Oilers will come out on top. They are going to win this game for Zack Heyman. They are going to book their second consecutive ticket to the Stanley Cup final. I’m going to predict 53 Oilers with the little happy face because we’re all going to be smiling in oil country tonight. The team is going to rally here. I have no doubt about that in my mind. The way they came off the plane in Dallas, the way that they’re looking, they are looking fresh. I just looked over, saw Connor Brown again. God, that guy just makes me blush, man. I’m gonna buy a Connor Brown jersey anyways. I don’t even care about the hattick anymore. I might just buy a Connor Brown jersey anyways. Uh, that is it from me. I will be doing a live stream commentary once again if you want to hang out during that, of course. Um, just keep an eye out for the live stream notification, I guess. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. We just hit 6,100 subscribers. We’re actually climbing towards 6,200 subscribers now. So, your support has meant the absolute world. I cannot thank you all enough. Before the game tonight, make sure you tell someone that you love them. And as always, fight like a kid, fight like Ben. Let’s go Oilers. Let’s get the job done. Let’s get ready to meet the Florida Panthers for a rematch of last year. Let’s go Edmonton. Let’s see what they got tonight. We’ll see you. We’ll see you soon.

The Edmonton Oilers can advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. Zach Hyman is out for the remainder of the post-season with a wrist injury, so look for an extra jump in the steps of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and others as the team rallies for their teammate. Austin Hockey has you covered with the projected lineups, stats, keys to the game, and more in today’s preview! #oilers #edmontonoilers #nhl

ICYMI: Zach Hyman is OUT for the Remainder of the Playoffs – https://youtu.be/duv_BKnuHuo

I have a NEW Channel for Gaming and Extra Stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@UCy8e0uVP9kIlny7eM7O8Hqg

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4K4mprYG72He49k56Eging/join

I am now on Spotify, Apple and Amazon Podcasts!

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9bd98a01-76d5-46f5-a7a3-e3977ce8fea4/the-austin-hockey-podcast

I have a Discord Server! You Can Join Here: https://discord.gg/bXE3mKfS

Game Over is BACK! Subscribe to the Game Over Edmonton YouTube Channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/@UC9UeHym7B1UTiLdfNXe2MYQ

More Game Over: https://thegameovernetwork.com/

Ben Stelter Foundation Bracelets/Wristbands: https://benstelterfoundation.myshopify.com/
If you don’t want to miss any updates, announcements or video uploads make sure to Subscribe to my channel and follow my socials!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHockey1993
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/austinhockey.bsky.social
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@AHockey1993
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinhockeyyt/
TwitchTV: https://www.twitch.tv/austinhockeytv