DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars will play the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final for the second straight season, starting with Game 1 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
But this isn't the version of the Oilers that won in six games last season.
"I think the challenging part is they're a totally different team," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Monday.
Edmonton has a revamped supporting cast for superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Seven players who appeared in the conference final last season are no longer on the Oilers roster: defensemen Philip Broberg, Vincent Desharnais and Cody Ceci, and forwards Sam Carrick, Warren Foegele, Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod.
The newcomers include defensemen John Klingberg and Jake Walman, and forwards Viktor Arvidsson, Trent Frederic, Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin and Jeff Skinner.
The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round and the Vegas Golden Knights in five in the second. They're averaging 3.91 goals per game and 3.09 goals-against in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That's a pretty impressive team," DeBoer said. "I mean, you can see what they've done. … They've tilted the tice. They get depth scoring. They're going to be a really tough test for us."
Of course, the Stars are a totally different team too.
Seven players from the conference final last season are no longer on the roster: defensemen Ryan Suter and Chris Tanev, and forwards Ty Dellandrea, Radek Faksa, Joe Pavelski, Craig Smith and Logan Stankoven.
The newcomers include Ceci, defensemen Lian Bichsel and Ilya Lyubushkin, and forwards Oskar Back, Colin Blackwell, Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen.
The Stars defeated the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the first round and the Winnipeg Jets in six in the second, averaging 2.62 goals per game and 2.92 goals-against. Rantanen gives Dallas a superstar to counter McDavid and Draisaitl. He has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 13 games, most in the playoffs and two more than McDavid's 17 points (three goals, 14 points) in 11 games.
Though Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm could return during the conference final after missing the first two rounds with an undisclosed injury, Dallas has gotten two key players back, each from a lower-body injury. Forward Jason Robertson returned in Game 1 of the second round, defenseman Miro Heiskanen in Game 4.
"We're comfortable with our group," DeBoer said. "We just went through two of the best teams in the League, so we're comfortable, and we're getting, I feel, healthier and more up to speed with the guys we've put back in, so we've just got to continue to build on that. …
"[This is the] first time since January we've had any kind of version of our full lineup, so it's nice. You never want to go into a fight with an arm tied behind your back. And really, the first two rounds, that's what we had, and to our group's credit, they found a way to grind through those series, but it's nice not to have to be in that type of situation."
Special teams were critical last season. The Stars outscored the Oilers 12-11 at 5-on-5 but went 0-for-14 on the power play (and gave up a short-handed goal), while the Oilers went 4-for-11 (36.4 percent).
Through two rounds this season, Edmonton has 29 goals at 5-on-5 and Dallas 20, but the Stars have been better on special teams. The Stars are 30.8 percent on the power play and 86.1 percent on the penalty kill; the Oilers are 25.0 percent on the power play and 66.7 percent on the PK.
"We're going to assume they're going to have a great power play with the players they have, and a really good penalty kill like they did last year in the playoffs against us," DeBoer said. "I'm assuming ours are going to be really good again, and I think it's going to come down to 5-on-5."
The Stars need more production from some forwards, most notably Matt Duchene and Jason Robertson.
Duchene led them with 82 points (30 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games of the regular season. Robertson was right behind with 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games, leading them in goals. Neither has scored yet in the playoffs. Duchene has five assists in 13 games, and Robertson has one assist in six games since returning from injury.
But Duchene led Dallas forwards with nine shot attempts in a 2-1 overtime win against Winnipeg in Game 6 of the second round. The Stars had 80 shot attempts to the Jets' 52.
"I think we've got to build on that," DeBoer said. "I know Edmonton's defending really well again too, and so we've got to take that Game 6 mindset that we had against Winnipeg into this Edmonton series, because despite the fact of how well Winnipeg defended, we still found a way to break in and get some really good looks."
