20-05-2025
MATHESON: Factors to ponder in Western Conference final
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'It's going to be a good one (matchup). It'll come down to who makes the save at the right time,' said Oiler Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr.
DEFENCE VS. STARS' TOP LINE
Which Oilers defence pair goes against the early Conn Smthye favourite Mikko Rantanen and fellow Finns Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund?
The left-side Darnell Nurse is the most physical of the Oiler blueliners, so you likely need him against the 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-winger Rantanen. But do Oilers keep his current partner, the game but smaller Troy Stecher, with Nurse? Or do they shake things up and move Brett Kulak, who is averaging eight more minutes a game this playoff run than last, off his current partnership with Evan Bouchard?
The Oilers like their three pairs, with puck-movers Jake Walman and John Klingberg, as the third tag-team. Shifting Stecher for, say, the bigger Kulak might be a plan, but then it screws up something that worked against a big Vegas forward group.
