When the task is shutting down elite opponents, Miro Heiskanen's your guy

Stars (43-28-5, 91 points) vs. Oilers (44-26-6, 94 points)

EDMONTON, Alberta --One of the interesting twists of Miro Heiskanen's career is that he's always been ahead of the game defensively.
That's not usually the case for young, skilled players, especially those who are taken third overall. But Heiskanen's scouting report from the draft was that his understanding of defensive concepts was exceptional, and he's probably shown that most in his matchups with Edmonton's Connor McDavid. Heiskanen helped shut down McDavid in a 4-1 win in Dallas on Nov. 23, and while he missed the Stars' 5-3 win on March 22, he's expected to play a huge role Wednesday at Rogers Place.
Stars coach Rick Bowness won't have the last change, but he'll still do everything he can to get Heiskanen out on the ice against the defending league MVP.
"His anticipation, his skating ability, his angling ability," Bowness said when asked what makes Heiskanen good defensively. "He makes the game look easy. He gets inside, he uses his stick much like Nick Lidstrom used to do. Nicky never ran over anybody, he always angled them, always put them in the corner, always ended the play, and that's why Miro's so good."

Heiskanen leads Stars defensemen in SAT (shot attempt differential at even strength) at plus-94. He leads all Stars players in average time on ice per game at 24:47.
McDavid is second in scoring with 110 points (42 goals, 68 assists) in 75 games. Teammate Leon Draisaitl is fourth with 105 points.
"That's a great hockey team, and they're playing great hockey," Bowness said. "Back-to-back shutouts. They've got the elite of the elite, those two guys, so we've got a lot of respect for them."

What to watch

The Stars will start Scott Wedgewood in goal.
The veteran has been solid with Dallas, forging a 3-0-2 record with a 2.69 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. That said, Jake Oettinger was pulled last game in a 6-2 loss at Vancouver, so there had to be some thought into the decision.
"He played well when he went in, and he's going in," Bowness said of Wedgewood.
Dallas plays Thursday in Calgary, so Oettinger might get that start. Then again, if Wedgewood plays well, he could get both games.
Oettinger is 3-3-0 in his past six starts with a 3.11 GAA and .890 SV%.

Lineup update

The Stars will go with the same lineup they used March 22 in a 5-3 win over the Oilers. Esa Lindell will come back in after missing a game with an illness.
Here's a possible lineup:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Peterson-Seguin-Gurianov
Raffl-Faksa-Glendening
Studenic-Benn-Radulov
Suter-Heiskanen
Lindell-Klingberg
Hanley-Hakanpaa
Wedgewood
Oettinger

Numbers

29

The Stars rank 19th in the NHL in regulation wins at 29. That's in part because they're 14-4 in games that have gone past regulation. But because regulation wins is the first tiebreaker in any playoff situation, Dallas is behind Nashville (35), Vegas (33) and LA (32).

21

McDavid has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 14 career games vs. the Stars.

17

John Klingberg has 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 17 career games against the Oilers.

He said it

"You don't win at this time of year with half your team playing, the other half of your team not playing well. The guys that didn't play well, didn't show up better find their game by Wednesday night." -- Bowness after a 6-2 loss in Vancouver on Monday
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.