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Dallas Stars' Wyatt Johnston opens up on facing Connor McDavid, Draisaitl in 2024 Western Conference Final (Exclusive)
The Dallas Stars have advanced to their second consecutive Western Conference Final.
After knocking off heavyweights, the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, Dallas is tasked with taking down another big-hitter, the Edmonton Oilers.
I spoke with Stars leading scorer Wyatt Johnston about the upcoming Western Conference Final.
When looking at the Oilers, it's pretty simple to find their key players. Connor McDavid is the best player in the world and has 21 points (two goals, 19 assists) in the postseason. Leon Draisaitl is one of the best in the world and leads the Oilers with 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in only 12 games.
When comparing that to the Stars, who are led by 21-year-old Wyatt Johnston (11 points), the matchup becomes even more intriguing.
"What you see is what you get," Johnston said about the Oilers. "You have their offense, which is obviously one of the best in the league. They've got two of the best players in the world. That's a key focal point of the series is for us to be able to defend all their top players."
Wyatt Johnston believes playoffs will be different from regular season matchups against Oilers
The Stars faired well against the Oilers this season, winning two of three games and picking up points in each contest. Dallas has also been good at keeping McDavid and Draisaitl fairly quiet in their careers.
However, despite the regular season success, Dallas expects this playoff series to be entirely different.
"You play teams in the regular season, but playoffs is also different," Johnston said.
"We'll get our pre-scout in, seeing their games, see how they played and what to expect. But at some point, you've just got to play them in the first game and adjust from there."
For Dallas, their series success likely relies on how well they are able to bottle up McDavid and Draisaitl. So far in the playoffs, nobody has been able to do that.
However, unlike matchups in the past, Dallas is not going to approach these players with a one-on-one mindset. Previously, Miro Heiskanen was tasked with essentially following McDavid all over the ice. He did it incredibly well, and since coming into the league, he has kept the superstar to the third-fewest points against any team in the NHL.
Now, Dallas is deep, arrguably the deepest team in the league. They displayed their incredible depth in the first two rounds, knocking off another deep team in Vegas and completely outplaying a top-heavy lineup in Colorado.
In this series, they face another top-heavy group, with the Oilers getting a majority of their scoring from only a few guys. So the plan stays the same for Dallas.
"You've got to know when those guys are on the ice. Being smart with the puck, not giving them anything free, turnovers into odd-man rushes or power plays," Johnston said.
"Being really disciplined and smart with the puck. Takes more than just one guy. It's not just that one left D-man that is playing one-on-one. It takes all of us. That's so important to defending well against anyone. It's a five-man unit."
We will see just how well the Stars are able to use their depth and defend two of the best players in the world when the series begins in Dallas on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
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