Introduction to the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers Rivalry
What breeds the best sports rivalries, even more than geography?
Familiarity.
The Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers play hockey nearly 2,000 miles away from each other, and even still it’s one of the most underrated and rich rivalries in all of the NHL.
The teams will begin another chapter on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, which will mark the eighth time the Stars and the Oilers have faced off in the playoffs. It’s No. 10 if you count two series between the Oilers and the Minnesota North Stars.
There are only 17 pairs of teams that have met in the playoffs more often in NHL history, and Dallas and Edmonton are one of only four pairs to ever meet for five postseasons in a row.
History of the Rivalry
It all started in 1997 — with two teams that didn’t like each other all that much to begin with.
Check out the full history of Stars and Oilers playoff matchups below.
1997, First Round
Oilers win series, 4-3
This might have been the first “hockey heartbreak” the city of Dallas ever experienced.
After missing the playoffs the season before, a young, ripe 1996-97 Dallas Stars squad led by a 26-year-old Mike Modano finished the regular season as one of the best teams in the NHL, the No. 2 seed entering the playoffs.
But they were stunned in the first round by a scrappy Oilers team, and it was a Game 7 overtime winner that ended the young Stars’ season and left Reunion Arena so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
1998, Second Round
Stars win series, 4-1
A different Stars team took the ice in the 1997-98 season. The main reason? The signing of free agent goalie Eddie Belfour.
Belfour helped lead the Stars on their deepest playoff run yet, which included a 4 games to 1 smashing of Edmonton in the second round. The Oilers scored only five goals across the five-game series.
1999, First Round
Stars win series, 4-0
It might seem like the ‘99 Stars’ 4-0 sweep of the Oilers was pure dominance from the soon-to-be Stanley Cup champions. But this was the third straight year these teams had played, they very much didn’t care for each other, and the Oilers made an absolute slog of it.
Edmonton forced the Stars to scrap for four one-goal wins, the last being a triple-overtime slugfest that finally ended at the stick of future Conn Smyth winner Joe Nieuwendyk.
2000, First Round
Stars win series, 4-1
It looked like déjà vu all over again … until it didn’t.
The 2000 Stars mowed right through Edmonton in the first round (again). They cruised through the second round, and beat the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the conference finals, just as they had done the year before.
2001, First Round
Stars win series, 4-2
With this matchup the Stars and Oilers became just the fourth-ever pair of teams to play each other in the playoffs five seasons in a row.
They needed six games and the skin of their teeth to get by the Oilers in this one though, winning three out of their four games in overtime before outlasting Edmonton 3-1 in Game 6.
2003, First Round
Stars win series, 4-2
Both teams missed the playoffs in 2002, but on the plus side, they got a much-needed break from each other for a year.
They were right back at it the next season, though, meeting up in the first round once again. And once again, it was the Stars flexing their muscles and dismissing the Oilers relatively easily. Dallas needed six games and even trailed in the series for the first time since 1997, but the Stars won Games 4, 5 and 6 handily and outscored the Oilers 20-11 over the course of the series.
2024, Conference Finals
Oilers win series, 4-2
The two sides would meet again in 2024 as far into the playoffs as they’ve ever met. And for the first time in their last five tries, the Oilers would finally come out on top.
Connor McDavid’s Edmonton team ran through Dallas in six games, with McDavid himself accounting for 10 points in the series including an overtime winner in Game 1. It was the Oilers’ defense and goaltending that really sank the Stars, though.
2025, Conference Finals
As it turns out, the Oilers wouldn’t get where they wanted to go either. They fell in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.
That’s where this series picks up in 2025, with Dallas and Edmonton back for a Western Conference finals rematch with another trip to the Stanley Cup on the line.
Recent Developments
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