Stars edge Sharks in shootout to remain undefeated

DALLAS -- Matt Duchene and Roope Hintz each scored, and the Dallas Stars remained undefeated with a 3-2 shootout win against the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Duchene, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston scored in the shootout for Dallas.

“They outplayed us to start the game. I think in the second we started to take over," Duchene said. "Had it not been for some self-inflicted wounds, I think we hopefully wouldn’t have made it that close. Sometimes it takes 65 plus [minutes] to get it done. We’re happy with the start, but we’re not looking back. We want to keep putting the points away.”

Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for the Stars (4-0-0), who are one of four teams in the NHL yet to lose this season (Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Winnipeg Jets).

“They played really hard. That was four [games] in six [nights] for us, and I thought some self-inflicted mistakes that we obviously take a lot of pride in not beating ourselves. That’s obviously something we’ve got to eliminate,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “But a win’s a win in this league. You look around, and you’ve got to find a way to bank as many points as you can and we found a way.”

Tyler Toffoli and Ty Dellandrea scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves for the Sharks (0-1-2).

“I thought as a whole, we had a pretty good game tonight. Right in there right until the very end. Got a point,” Blackwood said. “Obviously want to come away with a win, but we’re building the right way. A step in the right direction.”

Toffoli gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 6:24 of the second period on a snap shot from the right face-off dot. He picked off Robertson’s pass from inside the defensive blue line to force a turnover and start an odd-man rush the other way.

“They worked hard. They played well. Maybe not the best from us, but we got the win,” Stars defenseman Esa Lindell said. “Still some room to improve. As the game went on, we kind of took over. Some good, some not so good, so I guess we can’t be too happy.”

Duchene tied it 1-1 at 12:03 when Mason Marchment found him driving to the net in the slot.

Dellandrea gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 15:12 off a rebound at the top of the crease. It was his first goal against his former team after he was traded from the Stars to the Sharks on June 19.

“[Scoring was] something I really wanted to do, but it really doesn’t matter. We’ve got to get wins and find ways to close out games,” Dellandrea said. “We had looks in the third, we had chances.

“We need to get on the gas in the third period a bit more instead of sitting back. I thought we did a better job of that tonight versus [the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday], but it’s still something we’ve got to improve on.”

Hintz tied it 2-2 at 17:12 on a one-timer from just inside the left face-off circle.

“We’re doing some good things,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We still have to do a lot of things better and more consistently. We’ve done some good things, but we’ve got to continue to grow. That’s a really good team over there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re in the Stanley Cup Final and going on a long run in the summer. There’s some things we can learn from them and we can look at. We’re moving in the right direction.”

NOTES: The Stars improved to 4-0-0 for the fifth time in franchise history (6-0-0 in 1996-97, 5-0-0 in 2006-07 and 4-0-0 in 2010-11 and 2020-21). Dallas forward Tyler Seguin missed the game with a lower-body injury. He is day to day. … Stars defenseman Mathew Dumba is week to week with a lower-body injury. … Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini did not travel with the team. He will be eligible to return to play on Friday when San Jose hosts the Winnipeg Jets after being placed on injured reserve on Oct. 12 with a lower-body injury.