PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Stars

The Edmonton Oilers will host the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place on Wednesday in the first of back-to-back games that will conclude at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thursday against the Kraken.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Stars

EDMONTON, AB – We're playing nearly every other day until the regular season is over from here on out.

Starting with the Stars.

Coming off a three-day break following a 5-4 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers will begin their final stretch of 12 games in 24 days on Wednesday against the Dallas Stars to close out their four-game homestand at Rogers Place with the first of a back-to-back, home-and-away set.

The Oilers will conclude the back-to-back on Thursday in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena before returning home to host the Calgary Flames on Saturday at Rogers Place in the first Battle of Alberta since the 12^th game of the season on Nov. 3 at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Oilers and Stars will finish off their season series after the home side took each of the previous two meetings – a 4-1 win for Dallas on Oct. 19 before Edmonton answered back less than three weeks ago on Mar. 8 in a 5-4 victory after Zach Hyman (2G, 1A) resgistered a three-point night and Connor McDavid (1G, 1A) produced a multi-point effort.

The Stars have the best record in the NHL since Jan. 24 at 16-4-3, including their 5-4 loss at Rogers Place earlier in the month that ended their four-game winning streak. Dallas will return to Edmonton looking for revenge after shutting out the Minnesota Wild 3-0 on Monday for back-to-back victories, with Jake Oettinger picking up his 12th career shutout to move him into sole possession of fourth-most in franchise history.

The Stars are tied for first in the NHL with four players with 25-plus goals this season (Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz. Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen). The Oilers have three, but will only have one of those players (Zach Hyman) available on Wednesday because of injuries to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, which puts extra onus on the team's other skaters to help pick up the slack.

That call to action is arriving at the right time for the Oilers as every players looks to ramp up their individual game over the final 12 regular-season games.

"It's just continuing to build our team game," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "Obviously, getting comfortable a in tight-checking and lower-scoring games as the end of the year comes around, and there's still a lot to play for too for our group."

Zach Hyman will play in his 300^th career game with the Oilers on Wednesday against the Stars and is riding a three-game point streak (3G, 2A), along with having eight points (5G, 3A) over his last seven games. His 142 goals in his first 299 career games as an Oiler are the fifth most in that span, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (248), Glenn Anderson (176), Jari Kurri (170) and Craig Simpson (143).

Hyman has recorded 25-plus goals in each of his four seasons so far in Edmonton and is one of four on the roster who’ve scored 50 or more in their career alongside McDavid, Draisaitl and Corey Perry. With the team’s two top scorers set to be out for a few more games, he’ll be one of the many Oilers players expected to help fill the void left behind by injuries to McDavid and Draisaitl.

The Oilers came up victorious 5-4 in their last contest against Seattle on Saturday without the help of 29 or 97, who will both miss all three of Edmonton's games this week due to their ongoing injury concerns, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said in an update after Monday’s practice.

"They're going to still be a while," Knoblauch said. "So we'll be playing a couple games without them at least, so it's good for those other guys that they know that they're going to get some more playing time."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recorded his fourth career hat-trick versus Seattle, scoring at even strength and on the power play and penalty kill from his versatile role as a centre and all-situations contributor to show there are plenty of players on this roster who can help make up for the absence of their two superstars.

“We hope that in the long run, this is good for us,” Knoblauch said. “Losing Connor and Leon, do we ever want them out of the lineup? No. So probably in the short term, it's harder for us to win games and move up in the standings, and we want to win as many games as possible, but collectively for our team, we want to be at our best for the playoffs. That's the most important thing.

“This little break without having those two, maybe that helps us other guys find their game and they're able to step it up because we ultimately, we need them more.”

“So hopefully, they can build a little confidence and feel good about it.”

With both of their top scorers set to be out for a few more games, it’s going to be on the rest of the team to help the keep the Oilers at pace with the streaking Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights – who’ve each won four straight games to pass Edmonton in the Pacific Division standings.

"You start to look a bit at the standings and where you'll end up when everything's said and done, and how hungry the teams are wherever they are in the standings," Nurse said. "So for us as a group, I think there's still a ton to be played for over the course of these last 12 games – not just gearing ourselves up for the playoffs and playing the right way, but also, at stake with in our division."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been playing his best hockey of the season between Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson with four goals and five assists over his last four contests, including two while shorthanded.

“I guess lately, it's been going in a little bit more,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Obviously, I’m trying to bear down, but trying to keep the same mentality.”

“There are times where you think you're playing well and you're trying to do the right things and the team's having success, so those are all what you're looking for and eventually, you stick with it. We talk about that as a team, and it goes the same individually. You stick with it and do the right things long enough and eventually, it turns for the good.”