Oettinger makes 27 saves, Stars shut out Capitals

DALLAS -- Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for the Dallas Stars in a 2-0 win against the Washington Capitals at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

It was Oettinger's third NHL shutout and first this season. He is 5-1-0 and leads the League in goals-against average (1.17) and save percentage (.960).
"I think I can be one of the best goalies in this league, and it's just now proving it every night," Oettinger said. "The team hasn't asked me to save the world or anything back there. Just do your job and make a few big saves every night.
"It takes a full team effort [to get a shutout]. Guys did a ton of stuff for me tonight, blocking shots and our [penalty kill] has been unreal this whole season. I owe a lot of guys thanks for tonight."

Jason Robertson scored, and Joel Kiviranta had a short-handed goal for the Stars (5-2-1).
"Everyone is kind of feeling it," Robertson said. "All four lines really got that mojo. We feed off all that energy."
Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves for the Capitals (4-4-0), who won their previous two games.
"There just wasn't a lot of opportunity out there," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "You're firing pucks in there and you're looking for redirects and tips and rebounds, and it doesn't drop for you tonight."
Robertson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 16:50 of the first period when he redirected Nils Lundkvist's shot from the point.
With Stars forward Roope Hintz serving a hooking penalty, Kiviranta scored at 10:54 of the third period when he stole the puck from John Carlson in the Washington zone and shot a backhand past Kuemper for the 2-0 final.

The Capitals finished 0-for-3 on the power play.
"Their goalie obviously played really well," Washington forward Anthony Mantha said. "We're still believers that if you can't see the puck, you're not going to save it. We've got to keep working on the relationship of guys getting to the net, taking the goalie's eyes away, but at the same time [you] have to keep getting pucks to the net."
Oettinger preserved his first shutout of the season with 12 saves in the third.
"I think we knew that we had a starting goalie, but until you come out and do it every night, you always wonder if it's real," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "But it's real. He's the real deal. It's a such a luxury to have a guy like that because he makes hard saves look easy."
NOTES: Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. … Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin had a game-high seven shots on goal. He has 783 NHL goals and is three shy of tying Gordie Howe for the most with one team. Howe scored 786 with the Detroit Red Wings.