Oilers vs. Stars Game 3 Information

• Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025
• Start Time: 1:00 PM MT
• Location: Edmonton, Alberta
• Venue: Rogers Place
• Watch: CBC/SN (Canada), ESPN (USA), Fubo (Stream)

Projected Line Combinations

• Oilers: Neither team took the ice in Edmonton on Saturday after flying from Dallas, and there weren’t morning skates on Sunday because of Game 3’s afternoon start time, so we don’t know yet if any lineup changes will be coming. The big question for the Oilers is when Mattias Ekholm will make his playoff debut. The veteran defender struggled through illness and injury in the latter part of the season and hasn’t played a full game since late March. Ekholm skated with the Oilers ahead of their series with Dallas and is a possibility to return during the Western Conference Final.
• Stars: Roope Hintz was taken off the ice late in Game 2 after being slashed by Darnell Nurse, and there’s no word yet if the Finnish pivot will be available for Game 3. Being without Hintz would be a major loss for the Stars, as he’s tied for second on the team in playoff scoring with 11 points in 15 games while logging 17:47 per game on average. Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin are options to move from the wing to centre between Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund on Dallas’ top forward line.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: After a rough showing in Game 1, Stuart Skinner was excellent for the Oilers in Game 2, turning aside 25 of 25 shots for his third shutout victory in four outings. With Calvin Pickard still on the shelf with an undisclosed injury, Edmonton will continue to ride with Skinner between the pipes.
• Stars: Jake Oettinger has been solid for the Stars in two outings in the Western Conference Final, stopping 46 of 52 shots between Games 1 and 2. Oettinger has started all 15 of Dallas’ games in the playoffs thus far and has a .915 save percentage.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 3

• The Stars haven’t been able to shut down Edmonton’s top players through the first two games of this series (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl have four points, Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard have three points), and things aren’t going to get any easier for them now that things have shifted to Edmonton. The Oilers will have the advantage of last change playing at home, so head coach Kris Knoblauch can actively look for favourable situations to send out their top forward lines. Despite the challenge, Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer is confident the Stars can handle going head-to-head with two of the league’s top players…
• “We don’t have the luxury of that matchup [defenceman Miro Heiskanen against McDavid and/or Draisaitl] now for the next two games. We’ve got to rely on our group, and there’s got to be a trust with everybody that’s out there,” DeBoer said after Game 2. “That’s not just on the defensemen, that’s on the forwards, too, to defend as a five-man unit. We’ve done this before. We went on the road against Colorado and [Nathan] MacKinnon and that crew. We did that. We’ve done it on the road in Winnipeg against [Mark] Scheifele and that group. I’m confident our group knows how to win in those situations.”
• A matinee playoff game is something new for Edmonton. According to NHL Stats, the Oilers have only hosted two afternoon playoff games in team history (not counting the pandemic-related 2020 and 2021 playoffs). They lost 3-2 to the Stars in Game 6 of their first-round series in 1997 and 5-4 in overtime to the Avalanche in Game 3 in the first round in 1998. The Oilers wound up winning both of those series in seven games despite Dallas and Colorado being heavily favoured.
• “I don’t think I’ve ever played a playoff matinée game, so everybody’s in the same boat,” McDavid said earlier this week. “We gotta come out strong. We’re at home. I’m sure the crowd will be excited, so we’ll be ready. There’s no excuse. It doesn’t matter if you play five overtimes or have to play in two days. Whatever the case may be, everybody’s in the same boat. I think whatever team’s ready to roll is going to have the advantage. It’s got to be us. We’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to go right from puck drop. It’s a long travel day tomorrow and a quick turnaround, so we’ve got to be ready.”
• The Eastern Conference Final hasn’t been much of a series at all. The Florida Panthers went on the road and beat the Hurricanes twice with ease, extending Carolina’s semi-final losing streak to an absurd 14 games. With the series back in Florida, the Panthers hammered the Canes in Game 3 with a 6-2 victory. With a win on Monday, the Panthers will reach their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final.

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