DALLAS — Jake Oettinger stopped all 13 shots he faced Monday night for the 17th shutout of his career, and five different players scored as the Dallas Stars picked up their first win of the season.
Dallas beat the San Jose Sharks 5-0 at American Airlines Center to improve to 1-2-0. The Stars had scored once across their first two games: a 4-0 home-opener loss to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 2 and a 2-1 loss at the Nashville Predators the next night.
On Monday morning, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said his team needed to get more pucks and more bodies to the net.
“We established more zone time and played more direct, forward, and cleaned up our blue lines,” Gulutzan said. “It’s a really simple recipe, and it’s good that they got rewarded for it.”
“It’s just a simple recipe,” Gulutzan continued. “It’s the best league in the world, but it’s also the simplest league in the world. We’re playing a young team that’s on the rise, and one way to slow them down is to just grind and play in that zone and force them to defend. That slows them down, and I thought our guys did a good job of that tonight.”
Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Joel Kiviranta, Mikko Rantanen, and Miro Heiskanen also scored, and Roope Hintz finished with 2 assists. The goals were the first of the season for Benn, Robertson, and Rantanen.
Miro Heiskanen Opens Scoring As Stars Follow ‘Simple Recipe’
Benn put the first shot on Yaroslav Askarov. Askarov thought he had it covered, but Hintz kept the rebound alive by knocking it off the end boards to Heiskanen. Heiskanen then banked a backhand off defenseman Dmitry Orlov and Askarov’s right pad with 1:09 left in the first period.
Heiskanen was aiming for anything in front of the net, defenseman or goaltender.
“I knew the goalie wasn’t ready there,” Heiskanen said. “I tried to hit somewhere, hit the defenseman or someone. I tried to hit the goalie, but lucky bounce, and it went in.”
Heiskanen has 2 goals in 3 games, including Dallas’ only goal in the loss at Nashville. Gulutzan said the defenseman is trying to take his game to another level.
“Everyone can tell that he’s pushing more on the offensive side of the puck, and it doesn’t take away anything from Miro’s defensive capabilities,” Gulutzan said. “So, Miro’s trying to grow his game into another level, and that’s going to be important for us.”
Kiviranta made it 2-0 at 3:17 of the second period. Oskar Back shot from the low slot, and the puck deflected off Sharks defenseman Jacob Trouba. Kiviranta then sent it back toward the crease from below the goal line, and it went in off the pad of Askarov, who was down on the ice.
Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse said it falls on San Jose’s defenders to clear what they can from in front.
“Pinballing around, obviously,” Nurse said. “Some weird bounces, but as defenders you try to clean up what you can in front. Just some odd bounces, that’s all.”
Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson Fuel Stars’ Second-Period Breakout
Benn made it 3-0 at 6:19, jamming a shot in at the left post. Robertson set it up with a between-the-legs touch pass from below the goal line. Gulutzan said Benn and Robertson both knew what the play behind the net was going to be.
“(Benn) has been the leading scorer of this league,” Gulutzan explained. “You could see on that one little play with (Robertson) behind the net that they were in sync. They both knew what the little play was, and it goes in the net. That might look like a little thing, but that’s a big thing. That’s two hockey IQ players reading off each other.”
Robertson made it 4-0 at 16:30 of the second. He gloved down a clearing attempt from defenseman Sam Dickinson at the right point and beat Askarov blocker side with a wrist shot from the slot. Last season, Robertson led Dallas with 45 goals, 51 assists, and 96 points.
Robertson wants the Stars to carry Monday into the rest of the week.
“Everyone in the room knew what we needed to do,” Robertson said. “Guys kept reloading and getting it back and getting it back. It was a good game, our passes from top to bottom were more crispy. We responded the right way and we want to continue that this week.”
Rantanen closed the scoring at 15:22 of the third period, juggling the puck before beating Askarov with a wrist shot from the left circle. He had 22 goals, 55 assists, and 77 points in 64 games last season.
Jake Oettinger Blanks Sharks For 17th Career Shutout
The shutout was Oettinger’s first of the season. In two starts, he has stopped 33 of 35 shots for a .943 save percentage and a 1.01 goals-against average. Oettinger said the Stars got back to their game against a San Jose team he called super skilled and fast.
“Anytime you get a shutout in the NHL it’s fun,” Oettinger said. “Now guys are so skilled and so smart, turning down good looks to try to make a great look, so that’s what you’re going to have to get used to as a goalie now in this league. I feel like the volume isn’t going to be as high, it’s going to be more quality over quantity.”
Players not turning down shots was something the Stars talked about a lot, according to Oettinger.
“It’s nice,” Oettinger explained. “Obviously, we were off and a little stressed out, but just a great team win. We felt like we had a lot more traffic and chaos at the net. Guys were not turning down shots and we talked about that a lot. A couple of those goals may have looked lucky, but it’s because you’re doing the right thing.”
Dallas outshot San Jose 26-13 and finished with a 66-24 edge in shot attempts. Gulutzan said Oettinger looked steady on the shots he did see.
“The shots that he got were dangerous, especially in the second,” Gulutzan said. “It’s hard for a goalie when you get three shots in the first, but some of them are dangerous. I thought he looked steady on a couple of the ones he got.”
Macklin Celebrini Late Scratch Leaves Sharks Without Captain
San Jose played without captain Macklin Celebrini. He took part in warmups and was then scratched a few minutes before puck drop with a lower-body injury. The first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft had 5 assists in the Sharks’ first two games, both overtime wins. One of those assists came on Igor Chernyshov’s overtime winner Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. Celebrini signed a five-year, $94 million extension over the summer.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Celebrini was still being evaluated.
“(Celebrini) didn’t play tonight,” Warsofsky said. “We’ll evaluate tonight and tomorrow and see where he’s at.”
“He’s still being evaluated,” Warsofsky added.
Former Stars forward Ty Dellandrea drew into the lineup in Celebrini’s place. Dallas drafted him 13th overall in 2018, and he finished minus-2 in 14:20 of ice time in his season debut. Askarov made 21 saves on 26 shots.
Penalties and early time on the penalty kill put San Jose on its heels, Warsofsky said.
“I didn’t mind our first ten minutes,” Warsofsky explained. “I thought we did some good things, and then it went south from there. We just couldn’t get any traction. Obviously, taking penalties, going on the penalty kill early. When a team like that starts getting their touches, they start feeling good about themselves. Obviously put us on our heels quick.”
Dallas extended its point streak against San Jose to 10 games, going 9-0-1 in that stretch. The Stars went 0-for-3 on the power play Monday and are 0-for-8 this season. San Jose went 0-for-2.
With two days between games, Gulutzan planned to keep his players off their feet for a day before practice.
“We want quality versus just quantity right now,” Gulutzan said. “We’re still working on finding our game.”
Matt Duchene remains on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Dallas opens a two-game road trip Thursday at the Buffalo Sabres at 6 p.m. CT and visits the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
