Heika’s Take: Oettinger’s stellar play continues driving Stars to success

Jake Oettinger was once again spectacular on Tuesday night, but let’s give Pete DeBoer an assist.

Oettinger stopped 38 shots and continued his top-level play to start the season, but Dallas needed the boost of some smart line shuffling from the head coach to forge a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

Dallas continued to make some of the same puck possession mistakes that dogged them on Saturday against the Flyers, and Pittsburgh had an 18-9 shots on goal advantage and a 1-0 lead at first intermission thanks to a nice play in transition that ended in a Bryan Rust goal.

But DeBoer went to work in the second period, moving Evgenii Dadonov to a line with Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene, swapping Ty Dellandrea onto a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston, and flipping Mason Marchment to a line with Radek Faksa and Craig Smith. The Stars immediately started controlling the puck more, and cashed in with two goals. Jason Robertson scored off assists from Smith and Roope Hintz on a partially scrambled line, and then Dadonov converted strong work from Duchene and Seguin for his first goal of the season.

It was one more example of how this team is finding ways to win.

“Tonight was definitely not a pretty game, but I think we did a really good job defensively and save for the last five minutes of the first period,” said Duchene, who got his first point in a Stars uniform. “We scored four goals, but I think there’s more for us there. We’re at a point now where we’re doing a lot of things right and we want to keep getting better every game.”

Oettinger was the special sauce once again, but even he wasn’t impervious. The lanky backstop had the game at 0-0 throughout a frenetic first period, but then Rust converted a breakdown into a goal. Dallas almost gave up another with leaky play in the final minute of the period, but Oettinger was huge before the buzzer.

Duchene, who played in Nashville with Juuse Saros, said he’s learning that Oettinger is the same kind of goalie.

“Playing with Juuse the last four years, he was the same,” Duchene said. “He stole games. We hung him out to dry and there were games where we felt bad winning in Nashville, so I appreciate goaltending that way. And Jake, when we have had breakdowns, he’s been there for us.”

Oettinger is among the league leaders in both goals against average and save percentage, but he’s also huge in giving the team the confidence it needs to win games. Dallas is 4-0-1 in large part because Oettinger isn’t letting the team wobble.

“He’s big every night for us,” DeBoer said. “He’s elite. He’s come back, he’s healthy, he’s making it look easy. He’s obviously our backbone.”

That said, the coach is also having a good start so far. His line juggling on Tuesday changed the feeling for the team and created the kind of confidence the players needed. Robertson, who had been struggling, potted his first goal on a scrappy effort in front of the net.

“I had a couple of games where I didn’t have a scoring chance and I got one there,” Robertson said of a scrambling shot from the ice. “I wanted to hunt the puck and it went under his pad.”

The fact Robertson scored with Smith getting the first assist was appropriate. Afterward, Dadonov scored his first on a new line, and so did Thomas Harley and Johnston.

“We gave some of those combinations three or four games and I think frustration was starting to set in,” DeBoer said. “We weren’t finishing. So that’s one of the tools you have is to juggle some things, and it seemed to work tonight.”

Will it stay that way going forward? Well, DeBoer has used pairings while changing the third man on a line, and there’s a good chance that will happen some more.

“This team has been exactly the same, save for Smitty and I, so there is going to be some different chemistry, and obviously our line got a quick goal so maybe mixing it up works,” Duchene said.

At the very least, the Stars are showing they can put up points and keep up with the best teams in the West. This is their second straight season to start with a 5-game point streak.

“It feels good,” DeBoer said. “We’re a work in progress, but it always feels good to get off to a hot start. We’ve got Colorado who isn’t losing at all, so we’re just trying to keep pace.”

Oettinger is helping make sure that happens.

“I said to Seggy in the hallway through the third period, `Geez, he’s on it right now,’” Duchene said. “He’s making hard saves look easy. As a shooter, I remember him doing that to me, and it’s discouraging.”

The Penguins can attest to that after Tuesday’s game.

“He’s been our best player this year, no doubt about it,” Duchene said.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.