Oilers at Stars Game 2 odds, expert picks: Can Edmonton take another step toward Stanley Cup Final?

With Thursday’s Game 1 win over the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers moved one game closer to finally getting over the postseason hump and getting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to the Stanley Cup Final. As expected, McDavid was driving the bus for most of that success by being on the ice for all three of the Oilers’ goals, assisting on one, and then scoring the game-winner in overtime.

McDavid and Draisaitl are the foundation of this organization, and for the better part of a decade have been trying their best to drag it as far as they possibly can with marginal help. While this roster still has a lot of flaws and serious questions that still need to be answered and dealt with in the coming days and weeks, there is one stunning aspect of this team that is playing a larger-than-expected role in their postseason success: the penalty kill.

Typically it is the Oilers’ power play – led by McDavid and Draisaitl – that impacts the game from a special teams perspective. And make no mistake, it is still dominating by scoring on 36.6 percent of its attempts. But the penalty kill has been an equally dominant part of this, and it kind of came out of nowhere.

Over the past three regular seasons that PK unit has ranked 17th, 20th and 15th in the NHL.

In last year’s playoffs they successfully killed off just 75.6 percent of their penalties.

But this year’s postseason PK is cranking along at 92.6 percent, by far the best success rate in the playoffs, and played a massive role in Thursday’s Game 1 win by stopping Dallas’ high-powered power play on all four of its attempts, including a four-minute power play at the beginning of overtime.

That does not solve all of the Oilers’ problems when it comes to goaltending, scoring depth and whether or not they have more than one capable defense pairing during 5-on-5 play, but if they can at least keep shutting down opposing power plays at this rate it is going to keep them in more games and give McDavid and Draisaitl more opportunities to make a difference.

Odds are from BetMGM and update live. Buy tickets to see your favorite team on StubHub.

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Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars — Game 2

How to watch: 8 p.m. ET on TNT, SN

Oilers lead series 1-0

Series odds: Oilers -190, Stars +155

While McDavid and Draisaitl get most of the headlines, defenseman Evan Bouchard has been another key part of the Oilers’ success. He has been on the ice for 35 of the Oilers’ 49 goals so far in the playoffs. That is more than any other player on the Oilers roster.
Depth remains a concern, however. When none of McDavid, Draisaitl or Bouchard are on the ice this postseason the Oilers have scored just four goals in 236 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey. They have allowed nine goals in that time.
The Stars have not had forward Roope Hintz for three consecutive games, leaving a big hole in the middle of their lineup. He has scored 30 goals in each of the past three seasons.
The Stars penalty kill is a big concern in the playoffs, successfully killing off just 70 percent of their penalties. They were able to mitigate that in Game 1 by taking just one penalty. They have to remain disciplined to keep Edmonton’s power play off the ice and avoid that mismatch.
Even with the three goals against in Game 1, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger still posted a save percentage above .920 for the 10th time in 14 playoff games this season. He remains a big advantage for the Stars.

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(Photo of Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Suter: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)