First Shift 🏒
Duchene and Jake Oettinger were having an interesting discussion after practice in San Jose on Friday.
Duchene was talking about the difference a shot on goal might look between a right-handed and left-handed shooter, and Oettinger was nodding and talking about how a goalie might see the shot.
It was an intriguing interaction between two guys who were trying to help each other understand exactly what they’re thinking in those situations, and it can be huge for a team.
“They’re helping me get better and I hope I’m helping them get better,” Oettinger said. “I love facing skilled guys in practice, because if you can stop them, you can stop them in a game. After that, you can talk shop and hopefully they can take that and learn.”
Dallas currently ranks third in scoring at 3.41 goals per game and first in shooting percentage at 13.3 percent. It ranks sixth in goals against at 2.75 and eighth in save percentage at .902 – and that’s after a rough six-game run of three-plus goals against per game. So, the Stars are good at both scoring and good at stopping the puck, and practice is a big reason for that.
“It’s all complementary,” said forward Jason Robertson, who works with the goalies as much as anyone. “Our power play is helping our PK in practice and alternately, our PK is helping our power play. It’s everywhere and it’s what pushes us to be a good team.”
Robertson worked with Scott Wedgewood in recent seasons and now the former Stars backup is 19-3-4 with Colorado. In the past two seasons, backup Casey DeSmith has been able to work with Dallas’ bevy of shooters, and now he sits 10-2-4 with a 2.33 GAA and .916 save percentage.
“You just try to be hard to score on in practice,” DeSmith said. “I’m a competitive guy so I hate being scored on. It’s fun going toe-to-toe with some of the best players in the NHL.”
The fact that both goalies play well in Dallas also has been a huge boost. Over the past four seasons, Dallas has the second-best record in the league and ranks fourth in both scoring and GAA.
“It’s a team effort, and I think that helps everyone,” Oettinger said. “I know it helps the goalies.”
DeSmith could get the start in net Saturday against the Sharks after starting in Washington (and winning) on Wednesday. Head coach Glen Gulutzan said he feels the balance in net is huge for his team.
“You look at his body of work and it’s not a one-off,” Gulutzan said. “It’s a lot of back-to-back-to-back performances. The goaltending has been good. Casey has been good, Otts has been good, but Casey is really pushing and those are good problems to have. We have confidence in both guys. It’s a luxury that not everybody has, but we have it.”
