Stars top Avalanche in shootout, move within 2 points of Central Division lead

DENVER -- Jake Oettinger made 33 saves before stopping all three attempts he faced in the shootout for the Dallas Stars, who won 2-1 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

“I thought 'Oetts' was the difference for us. He was by far our best player,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He was the difference, and if I rewind to (the 5-4 shootout win in) October, he was the difference there, too. So I thought he's fantastic tonight.”

Said Oettinger: “We want to win the division, win the Presidents' Trophy. So we gained one point on them tonight, and it's great, but still got a lot of work to do.”

Wyatt Johnston scored the only shootout goal in the third round. Jason Robertson scored for the Stars (43-15-10), who have gone 15-1-1 in their past 17 games to move within two points of the Avalanche for the Central Division lead.

“I thought it was two teams kind of feeling each other out first, and that's why it was tight,” Gulutzan said. “Almost like two heavyweight fighters that didn't want to get hit with a punch early. So I thought it was pretty tentative, both sides. They kind of got going first, carried the momentum. We got it back a little bit in the third.

“But as a coach, you're never happy, and, I think our guys, next time we can be better in this building.”

Cale Makar scored, Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to four games, and Scott Wedgewood made 17 saves for the Avalanche (44-13-10), who have lost three straight and four of their past five games.

“I watch our team play like that, and (I have) very little issues with the way we played,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I’ve said it all along -- I'm not going to judge our team on results only. I think that's a losing battle. I think you play like that and good things will happen. From the goaltender out, everyone was good and power play was good.”

Makar scored a power-play goal at 18:33 of the first period to make it 1-0 Colorado. He snapped Nazem Kadri’s pass far side past Oettinger's blocker from the right circle hashmarks.

“We knew what was at stake in this game -- big points for the division,” Makar said. “For guys to be able to come out and show up, it shows we’ve got a lot of gamers on this team, a lot of guys with character. So up and down the lineup, I thought everyone played a great role tonight.”

Robertson tied it 1-1 at 6:18 of the second period. Nathan Bastian’s initial shot from the right circle hit the right post and caromed over to Robertson at the left dot for the second chance, which he got past Wedgewood short side from the left dot with a wrist shot.

“We worked on that this morning,” Robertson joked. “I think you just find a way to win. I mean, every night it's something different, whether it be a power play, goaltending, depth scoring, defenseman scoring. And you need that at this time here, when you're grinding, playing every other day. You just have to find ways to win, and especially with guys out for injuries. So yeah, we're leaning on a lot of guys here.”

Said Bastian: “I saw him on the other side, so I ripped it off the post trying to get it right on his tape.”

NOTES: Makar became the first defenseman to post three consecutive 20-goal seasons since Phil Housley (six from 1986-87 to 1991-92) and Al MacInnis (three from 1989-90 to 1991-92). … Makar now has four 20-goal seasons, which ties Steve Duchesne and Ron Greschner for the 10th most by a defenseman in NHL history behind Ray Bourque (nine), Denis Potvin (nine), Paul Coffey (eight), MacInnis (seven), Housley (seven), Bobby Orr (seven), Reed Larson (six), Brian Leetch (five) and Larry Murphy (five). … Brent Burns tied Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time games played list.