The Dallas Stars haven’t lost a regulation game since Jan. 22. They are 12-0-1 in their last 13 games, and their only loss came in the shootout against Colorado last Friday. Five players have averaged a point per game or more during this 13-game stretch, led by Matt Duchene (19 points), Jason Robertson (16), Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen (14) and Jamie Benn (13).

Mikko Rantanen has missed seven games, and Roope Hintz has missed six, yet the Stars continue to win and will look to sweep the season series tonight.

Dallas won 4-3 in a shootout in early November and then blew out the Oilers 8-3 later that month in Edmonton, but the Oilers skate into Dallas on a two-game winning streak and will look to continue their improved defensive play. The Oilers didn’t dominate in Colorado on Tuesday, but they limited the high-danger chances, and when they struggled to get the puck out, they got in shooting lanes and blocked 23 shots en route to a massive 4-3 victory.

Before this road trip, the Oilers had allowed 56 goals in their previous 12 games and gave up scoring chances easier than the Washington Wizards gave up points to Bam Adebayo. It is a meagre two games, but the Oilers needed a starting point on the road to defensive improvement, and it began in Vegas, continued in Colorado and now they need to bring that game to Dallas.

Connor Murphy had another strong defensive game in Colorado. He will give up shots against, but he didn’t give up many quality chances. Darnell Nurse had one of his best defensive games of the season in Colorado. Evan Bouchard outdueled Cale Makar, outscoring him 2-0 and finished +2 to Makar’s -1. Jake Walman had a few rough giveaways, but he blocked seven shots and didn’t allow the errors to end up as goals against. The Oilers played five defenceman for much of the game as Ty Emberson left the game after playing eight shifts and a total of 5:35 ice time.

The Oilers bent but didn’t break in Colorado, and they will need a similarly strong defensive effort tonight in Dallas. The Stars are rolling, and since the start of the 2023-24 season, they are 6-1-1 against the Oilers in the regular season. Edmonton, however, has eliminated the Stars the past two playoffs with a record of 8-3. The Stars would love to sweep the Oilers, while Edmonton is looking for a much better effort after the ugly 8-3 loss in November.

These teams likely can’t meet until the third round, and there is no guarantee they will, but teams always try to send messages late in the season. A victory would reaffirm the Oilers belief that they can beat Dallas when it matters, and equally important it would keep them within striking distance of Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks are playing well, and they dominated in Winnipeg on Tuesday, defeating them 4-1 and outshooting them 35-13. The Jets were at home and desperate for a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive and the Ducks absolutely dominated them.

The Oilers likely need a lengthy winning streak to catch or pass the Ducks. Edmonton has won three games in a row only once this season. St. Louis is the only other Western Conference team with a single winning streak, but they won four in a row.

It isn’t too late to go on a run for the Oilers and to do it in Vegas, Colorado and Dallas would be impressive.

Winning comes from consistency, and for two games the Oilers have shown they can play consistently sound defensively, but they need to do it for more than two games in a row. Defeating the two best teams in the NHL in a span of 48 hours would show the league the Oilers are a team to respect. The Oilers believe they are a top team, but they haven’t shown it often enough this season.

Tonight they can.

— McDavid extended his road point streak to 19 games. The only players in the last 40 years with a longer road streak include: Wayne Gretzky (29 GP in 1986-87), Pat LaFontaine (22 GP in 1989-90), Gretzky (22 GP in 1985-86) and Mario Lemieux (21 GP in 1989-90). The Oilers play in Dallas tonight, St. Louis tomorrow night, they are in Utah on March 24 and Vegas on the 26th. He could extend his streak to 23 games this month.

— Leon Draisaitl played his 852nd game as an Oiler in Colorado to pass Mark Messier for fourth on the Oilers’ all-time GP list. Their production through 851 games was very similar.

Draisaitl: 433-615-1,048.

Messier: 392-642-1,034.

The main difference was Messier had 1,124 PIMs to Draisaitl’s 364. Both were elite for the Oilers, and it illustrates just how dominant Draisaitl has been so far in his career. Without question he is trending to be one of the top 20 players of all time.

— Zach Hyman will play his 700th NHL game tonight.

His first full five seasons (and 16 games in 2016) came with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He tallied 86-99-185 in 345 games.

In his fifth season with the Oilers, he had produced 171-131-302 in 354 games.

He is one of the best free agent signings in NHL history in the salary-cap era behind Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa.

— Jack Roslovic scored his 17th goal of the season in Colorado. Roslovic is a pending UFA, and I suspect the Oilers will wait to see how he performs in the playoffs. Roslovic’s splits last year and this year are very similar.

2025: October to December he scored 17-8-25 in 37 games. 2025: January to April he scored 5-9-14 in 44 games.

2026: October to December he scored 12-8-20 in 28 games. 2026: January to present he has scored 5-2-7 in 24 games.

Roslovic has 3-14-17 in 45 career playoff games. He signed in Edmonton because he wanted an opportunity to produce in the playoffs. He needs to ramp up his production and intensity down the stretch and hope that carries into the playoffs. He has the skill to be a difference maker. I could see the Oilers waiting until after the playoffs to decide on what type of extension (term and AAV) to offer him.

— Evan Bouchard is having a great season. After a slow October, he’s been killing it. Bouchard has already tied his career high in goals with 18 and needs eight points to set a new high in points. He leads NHL defenders with 75 points and is seven ahead of second-place Zach Werenski. Since Nov. 1 Bouchard has 68 points in 53 games (1.28 PTS/GP) and he is +26 for those who claim he’s weak defensively. He isn’t. Bouchard has emerged as an elite defender in the NHL, and he’s been the best D-man in the playoffs the past few seasons, but this is his best run of games in the regular season. Bouchard has emerged as a legitimate Norris Trophy candidate, along with Zach Werenski, Lane Hutson, Darren Raddysh, Moritz Seider, Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar. Bouchard has a very strong case to be one of the three finalists, especially if he continues his play down the stretch.