The Dallas Stars are headed on the road to face the Edmonton Oilers for Game 3 of their Western Conference Final series. Knotted up 1-1, the Oilers are looking to use their home ice to their advantage to gain an edge. Let’s take a look at some stats and facts relating to these playoffs and this series in particular.
Related: Projected Lineups for Stars vs Oilers – Game 3
Among the 77 best-of-seven Conference Final series that have been tied 1-1 in NHL history, the team that wins Game 3 has gone on to the Stanley Cup Final 59 times (76.6 percent). In these playoffs thus far, the Stars are 2-0 in Game 3s while the Oilers are 1-1.
For the first time since 2021, there won’t be a sweep in either the Eastern or Western Conference Final. In 2023, the Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes, and in 2022 the Colorado Avalanche swept the Oilers.
In these playoffs, home teams have a 1-12 record in Game 3s. Only the Avalanche were able to break this trend, beating the Winnipeg Jets 6-2. The Oilers will try to join Colorado as the two outliers with a win tonight.
Edmonton is hunting its first home-ice win in the Western Conference Final since 2006, a season where they eventually went to the Stanley Cup Final. They hadn’t won a game in the Western Conference Final at all since Game 5 of that same season, but that streak was broken in their 3-2 double overtime victory in Game 1 against the Stars.
Also, Connor McDavid is eyeing some impressive playoff history. With 98 points in just 63 games played in his postseason career, two more would put him at the century mark. Four players in the history of the NHL have done so in less than 70 games: Wayne Gretzky (46), Mario Lemieux (50), Leon Draisaitl (60), and Jari Kurri (67). On May 18, 2024, Draisaitl reached the 100-point mark in a Game 6 win against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round.
Speaking of Draisaitl, he has the chance to extend his home-point streak in these playoffs to seven games. If he registers a point tonight, he will join Mark Messier, Esa Tikkanen, Paul Coffey, Gretzky, McDavid, Glenn Anderson, Kurri, and Willy Lindstrom as the only players in franchise history to do so.
Related – 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals Hub
For the Stars, Jamie Benn is a few playoff points shy of making some history. With 73 of them in 98 career games, he needs three to tie Bobby Smith for fourth place in Dallas’ all-time playoff points list (extends to the Minnesota North Stars) and four more to break his total. Benn has three points in this series already.
In some more Stars news, Jake Oettinger currently has the 10th-highest career save percentage (SV%) among playoff goaltenders with at least 15 games played, sitting at .926. Jake Allen (.931 SV%) and Jonathan Quick (.927 SV%) are the only two others on this top-10 list who are still active in the league.
Furthermore, Oettinger has a .963 SV% and a 1.24 goals-against average (GAA) in playoff games in Alberta, Canada. Two of these were contests where he came in for relief of Anton Khudobin in the 2020 bubble playoffs, both located at Rogers Place, and two were against the Calgary Flames in a first-round series at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Stats and facts courtesy of NHL PR