Vasilevskiy 2.0? Bowness sees similarities between rookie, Vezina winner

DALLAS -- Rick Bowness knows a thing or two about great players.
He's been coaching in the NHL since 1984 and he recently spent five years with the Tampa Bay Lightning and their cast of All-Stars. So when he compares Stars rookie goalie Jake Oettinger to a player he was helping coach as a rookie in 2014, you do get a bit of a chill.
Especially when that player is Andrei Vasilevskiy, who currently is considered the best goalie in the world.

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"I was in Tampa when Vasilevskiy came into the league. There are a lot of similarities," Bowness said when talking about Oettinger, who had 33 saves Tuesday in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Lightning.

Oettinger was starting for the third straight game, and Bowness said the 22-year-old has earned that responsibility because of his play this season. Oettinger is 4-1-6 on the season and ranks seventh in goals against average at 2.16. While he is 1-6 in games that have gone past regulation, he has done a lot of great things to get his team to overtime.
Tuesday was a great example, as Oettinger stopped 18 shots in the first period and gave Dallas a chance to catch its legs.
"It was phenomenal by Jake," said fellow rookie Jason Robertson, who had two assists on the night. "I think there were 20 shots in the first period, and we could not have got that point without him for sure. I know he was a bit hard on himself after the shootout, but he got us there. He was our guy. Everyone trusts him and everyone knows he gave his all.

"I think he is one of the better goalies in the NHL as a rookie. Kudos to him. We will need him along the stretch, and he had a good performance tonight."
Oettinger has been learning about 3-on-3 overtime and the shootout, and has continued to improve. Bowness said he expects him to get even better, and uses Vasilevskiy as an example.
"When Vasilevskiy first came into the league, there were bad goals. He had to learn," Bowness said. "You could see the incredible potential of the kid and you could see the attitude, work ethic, and everything else was right there. You knew that Vasilevskiy was going to be a great goaltender in this league, but they need experience. They need to play. So, Jake has the work ethic, the compete and the desire to be great.
"Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the league, don't kid yourself. But this is Vasilevskiy's sixth or seventh year in the league. Imagine where Jake will be in six or seven years. He will be right there."

Benn breaks nine-game goal drought

Stars captain Jamie Benn had not scored a goal in nine games, and had just one in 15 games, so breaking through on Tuesday was a welcomed site.
Benn scored with 2:06 left in the third period to cut the Tampa Bay lead to 3-2 and then set up the tying goal by Alexander Radulov 41 seconds later. They were two high-pressure plays, and Benn stepped up to make them.
"He got the big goal for us," Bowness said. "He battles hard, he is great on the bench. When things aren't going good, you see him trying his best out there to get things going. I was glad to see him get a goal. It was huge, because it has been a while since he has scored. Hopefully, that will get him going again, too. He was solid. No problem with Jamie. He was good."
Benn credited Heiskanen with a great pass. Heiskanen played 26:43, put five shots on goal and had a goal and an assist.
Asked about Heiskanen's recent run of playing 25 minutes a game, Benn said: "I wasn't really focusing on one guy on our team, but I'm sure he was playing a ton of minutes and stepping up his game. Great pass on my goal. So much confidence in the kid. He's a high-end player for this team and in this league."

Robertson continues run of success

Another rookie playing well is Robertson. The 21-year-old winger had two assists on Tuesday and now has two goals and seven assists for nine points in his past eight games. Robertson also scored in the shootout again. He said he is learning every time he gets a chance in the post-game skills competition.
"After the first one that I missed and then I scored the second one; I am just being more confident and knowing what I am doing," he said. "The other night in Columbus we just won the shootout, too. I am pretty comfortable with what I am doing even though I missed that. I knew what I was doing; I just couldn't get that up there in Columbus, but I just came down and shot it tonight and saw an opening and it went in."
Bowness continues to put Robertson on the ice in key moments in the third period and overtime, as well as for each shootout.
"My confidence just comes from playing really well," Robertson said. "There is some stuff I could've really worked on. I needed to do better in the first period. I thought I could be harder on pucks and getting pucks out and getting more on the forecheck, so we kind of have to roll as a team.
"When everyone gets on a roll, we feed off of everyone, so we are all going and getting offensive zone shifts and time in the O-zone. In the second and third period there were a couple of special teams, but when everyone is rolling everyone feeds off of it, and I feed off of it as well. We need to get better."

Stars at Red Wings

Thursday, 6:30 p.m. CT
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
TV: FOX Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.