Oettinger, Stars shut out Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season in the Dallas Stars' 4-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

"He's a superstar goalie in this League," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said of Oettinger. "We seem to keep talking about him, which is a great thing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. He's a professional. He prepares well, and he's got a great mindset going into games. He shuts the door pretty much every night."
Dallas coach Peter DeBoer won in his return to Vegas, where he coached the Golden Knights for three seasons before he was fired May 16, 2022. He and assistant Steve Spott were honored in a video tribute during the first period.
"Honestly, it was touching," DeBoer said. "You never know when you leave, but I thought it was really classy to include Steve and I both at the same time. I thought the reception from the fans was great, and I never expected it different. They've been great from Day One. Classy on their part and appreciated by us."

Benn, Joel Kiviranta, Ryan Suter, Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars (26-12-7), who had lost two straight one-goal games. Ty Dellandrea had two assists.
"Our [defensemen] were pretty solid tonight," Benn said. "We had good breakouts and connected as a group of five," Benn said. "Communication goes a long way too. … It was a big team effort."
Logan Thompson made 32 saves for the Golden Knights (28-15-2), who were shut out for the first time this season.
"We didn't execute early on. That was a problem," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So you're not making plays, you're chasing the game. … With Dallas in general, and the problem with our team at times, is getting to the interior ice. You look at their two goals after (the first one), they're lucky. They both went in off of (Alex Pietrangelo). Point shots, but they generate a lot that way. We didn't get to the interior."

Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez left the game with an undisclosed injury in the second period.
"I have nothing to report other than he left," Cassidy said. "We're off tomorrow. Wednesday, we'll have an update."
Benn gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period with a wrist shot from the slot that beat Thompson blocker side after a Vegas failed clearing attempt.
Kiviranta made it 2-0 at 12:28 of the second period, scoring on a shot from the point through traffic that went in off Pietrangelo's stick.
The Golden Knights had a prime opportunity during a power play late in the second period. With Oettinger out of position, the Stars defenders went into the crease and blocked four of the next five shots.
"It was kinda right at the line," Dellandrea said. "… All of a sudden, it's out in front. I saw (Luke Glendening) dive. I dove. I don't know who it hit. That's the kind of desperation, you have to have on the PK. It comes naturally. You don't want it to go into your net. We saved one."

Suter made it 3-0 at 7:51 of the third period with a wrist shot from the point.
Seguin scored an empty-net goal at 19:16 for the 4-0 final.
"Tonight, we were great," DeBoer said. "We won a lot of battles. Blocked a lot of shots. Got great goaltending when we needed to."
NOTES:Benn surpassed Neal Broten with 993 games played for second on the Stars/Minnesota North Stars all-time list. Mike Modano is first with 1,459. … Seguin scored his third goal in three games. He has five points in his past four games.