The Dallas Stars are going all in for a Stanley Cup championship this season. The Edmonton Oilers are one of the teams that still stands in their way.
A day after making a blockbuster trade for high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen, the Stars will try to keep things ticking when they open a four-game road trip with a contest against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
It was unknown if Rantanen would make it to Edmonton in time for puck drop. He played for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in a 3-2 win against the visiting Boston Bruins, but the 28-year-old Finnish star will certainly help the Stars moving forward.
“Just the fit in Dallas,” Rantanen told TSN of his decision to accept a trade to the Stars and then agree to an eight-year, $96 million extension. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot with my camp and myself. … Just the fit everywhere, I think that’s what the position was.”
In the 2021-22 season, Rantanen scored 36 goals in the regular season and five more in the playoffs to help Colorado win the Stanley Cup title. The following year, he scored a career-high 55 goals for the Avalanche.
He will join a Dallas team that won all four games on its most recent homestand, which concluded with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
“We’re not satisfied,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “We want to be better. We’re happy with the win (vs. Calgary), but we’re not satisfied with the game. That’s the way winning teams have to be.”
Dallas definitely has some players producing at a high rate.
Wyatt Johnston, who signed a five-year, $42 million contract extension on Friday, extended his point streak to eight games (eight goals, six assists) with a goal and an assist against the Flames. He also has three straight multi-point games (five goals, two assists).
Roope Hintz has a six-game point streak (three goals, 13 assists) after contributing two assists on Thursday.
Jason Robertson also scored twice against the Flames to extend his point streak to six games (seven goals, six assists).
Like the Stars, the Oilers sit comfortably in second place in their division.
Edmonton is also coming off a 3-2 overtime victory, getting the game-winning goal from defenseman Evan Bouchard with seven seconds left against the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
The Oilers surrendered a pair of one-goal leads but managed to push the game into OT.
“In the past, we’ve found ways to lose those games,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We would kind of let the frustration sink in a little bit. We’ll take the two points, but obviously there is lots to do better.”
The win was particularly welcome for the Oilers after they dropped six of their previous seven games, giving up at least four goals in each of those losses.
“If you’re letting in two goals or less in a game, chances are that you’re going to win it,” Bouchard said. “Playing defense (at a high level was) the biggest thing we were missing the past six or seven games. That was a big one for us.”
Edmonton boasts two of the best players in the NHL, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, and both enter the game riding hot streaks.
Draisaitl scored his NHL-leading 46th goal against the Canadiens and contributed an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games (11 goals, nine assists).
McDavid had two assists to stretch his point streak to six games (one goal, seven assists).
–Field Level Media
