Heika’s Take: Oettinger’s clean sheet helps Stars end homestand on strong note

The Stars took an important step forward on Monday night.

It was a good time for it.

Of course, any time is a good time to play well, but Dallas had been flailing a bit in their overall “team game” and is heading out on one of the toughest road trips of the season – four games in six nights against Edmonton, Calgary and Seattle (twice). So finding a bit of confidence and rhythm was certainly welcomed, and a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild felt pretty good.

“Good game,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I liked our structure, did a lot of good things. I think it started with how we defended. I thought we defended well and Jake [Oettinger] looked great tonight when we did bend a little bit, but pretty solid effort.”

Oettinger’s performance has mirrored that of his team, fighting to find consistency and just the right juju with the postseason waiting less than a month away. And Oettinger’s play in a 32-save shutout was also reflective of what the Stars were able to do Monday. A Dallas team that had been losing puck possession stats for a couple of weeks, held an 82-63 advantage in shot attempts against the Wild – and that was in a game that was disjointed at times by various special teams scenarios.

Oettinger was spectacular at times. He made a few 10-bell saves to keep the game 0-0 until the 15th minute of the second period. He then shut things down after Dallas scored twice in a minute and then couldn’t scratch again until Mason Marchment added an empty-netter with 43 seconds left. There was a lot of tension in this one, but Oettinger just kept eating up pucks and frustrating the Wild.

“He’s always awesome. He was great again tonight and we needed it,” said forward Wyatt Johnston who scored on the power play. “It just gives us that confidence. In a perfect world, we start every game great and don’t give them much work, but it’s awesome when he can shut them down like he did tonight.”

Oettinger is a Minnesota native and this was his first shutout against the team he cheered for as a child. It was his 12th career clean sheet. The Minnesota tie likely was the reason fans at American Airlines Center received Jake Oettinger bobbleheads on Monday, so that added to the memorable experience.

“I love playing against those guys,” Oettinger said. “People from all over your hometown are going to be tuning in. It’s fun to play well against those guys. The guys have always played good for me against them, and they help me out. They know how important these games are for me, and it was a good win.”

The Wild have been battling injuries, but are still playing well. They sit 40-26-5 and in the first West wildcard spot. They are nine points behind the Stars (45-21-4), but DeBoer said he knew the Central Division rivals would be a challenge.

“You’ve got to be patient in a game like that,” DeBoer said. “You’re not going to blow that team out. They defend too well. If you get impatient against a team like that, you give up odd-man rushes and things like that. That’s when it bites you and I didn’t think we fell into that trap.”

Oettinger helped Dallas remain patient, and then the power play clicked at the right time. Roope Hintz won a faceoff and rolled to the net to set a screen. Thomas Harley then flipped a shot on goal and Johnston deflected it in from the slot. It was Johnston’s 26th goal of the season and, on its own, would have been significant. But Matt Duchene made it 2-0 just 58 seconds later when he slipped a shot through a crowd. Mikael Granlund and Jamie Benn drew assists for Duchene’s 27th goal.

“I think we defended a lot better. I think offensively, we can still try to work a little bit tighter maybe and try to create a little bit more,” said Mikko Rantanen. “I think obviously Dutchy’s line is playing well and the fourth line is with Bäcker [Oskar Bäck] and Steeler [Sam Steel] and those guys, I think they are playing well too. Take a page out of their book, little bit, how they play in the o-zone. I think we can do a little bit better job there too.”

Rantanen became the latest Stars player to take a puck in the face. He left for a little while and returned with a face bubble, the kind that Marchment has been wearing since he missed more than a month after having his orbital bone broken by a puck.

“I saw Marchment wearing it and it looked good, so I wanted to try it, too,” Rantanen joked. “It's fine, I was able to come back so that’s a good sign.”

DeBoer said getting Rantanen back quickly was a relief.

“It’s the most I’ve ever seen. Scary,” DeBoer said. “Knock on wood, he’s going to be fine, but every time something like that happens, the worst-case scenario is you are out for a month or two. That crosses your mind every time that happens.”

That allowed the Stars to escape a four-game homestand at 3-0-1 and head into this upcoming road strip in a positive state of mind. Sure, there is work to do, but the confidence sure seems to be in a better place.

“We’ve got to roll that into the next game and the next one. I’m excited to see how we respond in those games,” DeBoer said. “We’re trying to control what we can control, which is our game. I feel a lot better about our game after tonight than I did four or five days ago.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.