Much the same even with some new names as Stars and Oilers meet again in West final

DALLAS — Much is still the same, even though a lot of names have changed for the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers, meeting in the Western Conference final for the second year in a row.

Coaches Pete DeBoer and Kris Knoblauch are still in charge, so the structures are pretty much unchanged for both teams. Edmonton still has 100-point teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and Dallas has its corps of young scorers such Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson along with veterans Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn.

“There’s a few different players playing the series, obviously. But in a lot of ways, it’s very similar,” McDavid said Tuesday. “Same coach, same systems. … We haven’t changed much. They haven’t changed much.”

The same 26-year-old goalies will be in net when the series starts Wednesday night: Jake Oettinger for the Stars in their third consecutive West final, and Stuart Skinner for the Oilers, though he had lost his starting job in these NHL playoffs.

“There’s lots of things going to be similar,” Draisaitl said. “They know how we want to play, and we know how they want to play.”

Still, the Stars and Oilers had seven players who appeared in last year’s series — won by Edmonton in six games — who are no longer on those teams.

The biggest change is midseason trade acquisitions Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund now on the Stars’ top line with fellow Finnish player Hintz.

Rantanen is the leading scorer in these playoffs with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists). He is just ahead of McDavid with 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) and Draisaitl with 16 (five goals, 11 assists), who aren’t alone in scoring now for the Oilers. They are in their third West final in four seasons after losing last year’s Stanley Cup in seven games to Florida.

“They’ve got the two-headed monster, but just the depth like they brought in, (Trent) Frederic, (Corey) Perry, all those guys,” Oettinger said. “They’re first in the league in odd-man rushes, but now they’re also like getting to the net, getting traffic to the net. They’re not just kind of run-and-gun, which you need, the all-around game. From my perspective, I think just going to have to expect it all.”

Defenseman Cody Ceci, another player the Stars got in a midseason trade from San Jose, was with the Oilers the past three seasons. Veteran defenseman John Klingberg has played 10 playoff games after just 11 regular-season games with the Oilers, his fourth team since beginning his NHL career with the Stars from 2015-22.

Oettinger is already in his fourth consecutive postseason and has won six postseason series. Now he wants his Stanley Cup shot.

“I feel like he is dialed in. I feel like he’s on a bit of a mission here,” DeBoer said. “I think coming up short two years in a row, or getting that far and then not breaking through … he’s going to do everything he can to try to get us there.”

Oettinger has a .919 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average.

Skinner, the Oilers regular-season starter, was replaced after they fell behind 2-0 in the first round. They won six in a row with Stuart Skinner starting before he sustained an apparent left leg injury in Game 2 against Vegas in the second round.

After a loss in Game 3, Skinner posted consecutive shutouts, including the series-clinching 1-0 overtime win in Game 5.