Heika’s Take: Oettinger steals the show as Stars best Avalanche in shootout

Maybe the best thing about Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche was that it had a real playoff feel to it.

Heck, with a later start time to accommodate national television, it even had the timeline of a postseason clash.

And the fact that Jake Oettinger rose to a level that matched a hungry Avalanche team in a 2-1 shootout victory made it even better for the lads in Victory Green.

“I thought Otts was the difference for us,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He was fantastic tonight. He was by far our best player.”

Oettinger stopped 33 shots and then shut down all three attempts in the shootout – Val Nichushkin, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon - and that paved the way for Wyatt Johnston’s shootout goal to give the Stars the extra point in the standings. Former Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood was fantastic himself, stopping four shots in overtime and looking like he might be able to squeeze another shootout win against Dallas (he did that on March 6 in a 5-4 Avalanche victory). But Oettinger was one save better, and that was a great sign if these two teams meet in the playoffs.

Colorado and Dallas meet one more time in Dallas on April 4. Right now, Colorado leads the Central Division and the NHL at 44-13-10 (98 points), while Dallas is second in both at 43-15-10 (96 points). That’s important, because the winner of the Central will get the second wildcard team in the First Round of the playoffs, while the second-place team will likely face Minnesota in the First Round. The Wild sit fifth in the league right now.

“It’s huge,” said Oettinger. “We want to win the division and win the Presidents’ Trophy. We gained one point on them, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

That was the overarching theme of the night. Colorado came out strong and had a 21-9 advantage in shots on goal after two periods. The Avalanche scored on a first period power play, and Dallas came back and tied it in the second period when Jason Robertson popped in the rebound off a Nathan Bastian shot for his 37th goal of the season.

“I thought they outplayed us tonight,” Gulutzan said. “We outplayed them in our barn and they ended up with the extra point. They outplayed us here tonight and we ended up with the extra point. It was almost like two heavyweight fighters who didn’t want to get hit with a punch early. I think our guys next time can do better.”

But the playoff atmosphere is real, and it can be a big benefit. The Stars play at Minnesota on Saturday and then come home and face Vegas on Sunday. They could meet any of these three teams in the postseason at this point, so feeling that vibe can be a good thing.

“We have room for improvement in certain areas,” Robertson said. “We have a couple of tough matchups coming, so we’ll see there. Guys handled the momentum well and the guys will try to learn from this one.”

In fact, the past two months has been a “playoff classroom.” Dallas is now 15-1-1 in its past 17 games, and that includes some “heavyweight” matches while missing injured forwards Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa.

“I think you just find a way to win,” Robertson said. “Every night is something different, whether it be a power play or goaltending or depth scoring…you need that. You just have to find ways to win, especially at this time of year.”

And having a guy like Oettinger, who is on a 12-0-1 streak, helps a lot. Marty Turco has the franchise record for consecutive games by a goaltender without a regulation loss at 16 in 2002-03. That is something that Oettinger could shoot for as he plays more playoff-like games.

“Both teams know they can’t get away with any BS, so both teams play the right way and play tight,” Oettinger said of Wednesday’s game. “We know if we’re screwing around, they’re going to make us look bad.”

And that’s something that can hopefully be recalled again and again down the stretch.

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.