The Stars gave their goaltender all the support he would need late in the first period when Jason Robertson deflected home Nils Lundqvist's shot from the high slot at 16:50 of the first period.
With Washington pressing for the equalizer on a power play midway through the third period, Stars winger Joel Kiviranta executed a swipe and snipe, stripping the puck away from John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov as they tried to make an exchange under duress high in the Caps' zone on the breakout. Kiviranta then broke in alone and beat Darcy Kuemper to make it 2-0 at 10:54 of the third.
Kiviranta's goal was the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career.
"It was tight," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I didn't look at the third yet, but the chances were low both ways. There just wasn't a lot of opportunity out there. We had a couple of shifts in the second period where we got caught playing a little too much defense, and they kept us in our end and pinned us a little bit.
"Guys were pushing at the end, trying to score a goal, but we couldn't get one by him."
Washington held the Stars without a shot for nine minutes in the middle of the first period, but Dallas then doubled its shot total from five to 10 on a single shift in the back half of the first. Caps goaltender Darcy Kuemper managed to cover up to get a draw and a personnel change, but the Stars jumped in front when Robertson scored on the next shift.
Caps captain Alex Ovechkin had seven of Washington's 27 shots on the night. Oettinger denied him from in tight on a pair of quick chances just before the first Dallas goal, and thwarted him again in a 1-on-1 situation in the second period after Ovechkin forced a turnover in Dallas ice.
"We just couldn't find one," laments Caps center Dylan Strome. "I thought we did some good things after the first [period] and shut them down pretty well, but we couldn't find a way to capitalize. We had a couple of good looks on the power play, but we just couldn't cash in tonight.
"The goalie played well, and they played well as a team so you've got to give them credit."
Off to a stellar start this season, Oettinger improved to 5-1-0 on the season with Thursday's victory, and he improved his save pct. to .960 and his GAA to a miserly 1.17 on the season. Oettinger becomes just the second goalie in Stars franchise history to reach five wins in six or fewer appearances in multiple seasons; he also turned the trick last season, his sophomore campaign in the League. Kari Lehtonen is the other Stars netminder to achieve that feat.
"We've obviously got to do a better job of getting more on the inside," says Caps right wing T.J. Oshie, "whether that's creating chances off the rush, off the forecheck or off of some [offensive] zone play. [The Stars] also did a good job. They worked hard in their [defensive] zone, they were closing, and they were boxing us out. They made it tough on us, but we can be better down there."
