‘Had Our Legs Again’: Jake Oettinger Posts Second Straight Shutout As Dallas Stars Beat Buffalo Sabres 4-0

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jake Oettinger made 26 saves Thursday night for his second straight shutout, and Mikko Rantanen had 1 goal and 3 assists. The Dallas Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 at KeyBank Center in front of 19,070 and moved to 2-2-0 after opening the season with two losses.

Oettinger stopped 13 shots Monday in a 5-0 home win over the San Jose Sharks. He has not allowed a goal in 146:55, the second-longest shutout streak of his career. His longest, 154:20, ran from March 28 to April 7, 2024.

Buffalo finished with a 26-18 edge in shots. Dallas did not score in the third period after building a 4-0 lead through two.

“We had our legs again, I think that’s the key,” Rantanen said. “Playing well, you need to skate well, and I think the last two games we’ve been playing really fast. The first two periods really good, and then in the third, sitting back a little bit, they get a couple chances, but ‘Otter’ was pretty good in net.”

It was the 26th four-point game of Rantanen’s career, tied for fifth-most in the NHL since his debut in 2015-16. Wyatt Johnston had 3 assists.

Jason Robertson, Sam Steel, And Roope Hintz Score For Dallas Stars

Jason Robertson opened the scoring at 9:03 of the first period. He skated down the right side on a 2-on-1 with Rantanen and snapped a shot low on the blocker side of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for his second goal of the season.

Sam Steel made it 2-0 at 9:36 of the second period, snapping a shot from high above the slot through traffic and between Luukkonen’s pads. It was his first goal of the season.

Rantanen scored at 13:57 of the second. Nils Lundkvist’s shot from the left point came off the end boards, and Rantanen backhanded it into an open net with Luukkonen on the other side of the crease. It was the second of three Dallas goals in the period.

“I just like the game all of our guys are giving us right now,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Our ‘D’ has been moving the puck great the last couple games, and our forwards are working to spots for them. So we’re a little connected. We’ve just got to keep stacking here. We’ve got to stack plays and games up on each other.”

Roope Hintz scored the Stars’ first power-play goal of the season at 15:34 of the second. He took a pass from Johnston in the right circle and put it in the top corner on the far side. Dallas had gone 0-for-9 on the power play before the goal.

“I think we’re just trying to play hockey,” Hintz said. “Don’t think too much and try to play with the instincts and make a play if it’s there, and then just try to play quick hockey.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Makes 14 Saves As Buffalo Sabres Fall To 2-2-0

Luukkonen made 14 saves on 18 shots. The Sabres are 0-for-13 on the power play to start the season.

“I don’t care if they score four on breakaways, you don’t win hockey games by letting in four goals,” Luukkonen said. “That’s just how hockey goes. Sometimes your team doesn’t have the best night, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a good night. I don’t care if it’s a confidence thing, it’s a game thing. It’s something I need to figure out and be better.”

Buffalo fell to 2-2-0. The Sabres have given up the first goal and trailed by multiple goals in each of their last three games.

“Got to start better,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I mean, if you look at the two real good chances in the first five minutes, we’ve got to start putting some of those away. You look at the other night, the couple of really good chances we had where we didn’t execute. We’ve got to be able to put those in the back of the net. … Our starts have to be better. We have to start putting the puck in the back of the net early.”

Oettinger has 18 career shutouts. Thursday was the second time he has posted shutouts in consecutive games, and he is the third goaltender in Stars history to do it more than once.

Dallas plays at the Pittsburgh Penguins at 6 p.m. CT Saturday. Buffalo hosts the Utah Mammoth on Saturday.