Heika’s Take: Oettinger shines bright as Stars open homestretch with win over Sabres

Both Jake Oettinger and the Stars organization felt a trip to the NHL All-Star Game might be just what the 25-year-old goalie needed.

After all, Oettinger had offseason ankle surgery and was dealing with a midseason groin injury while battling through statistics that were below his typical levels. So when he played well, helped Team Matthews win, and got a huge injection of confidence, the thought was he should be in a good place when he returned to game action on Tuesday.

Oh boy, did that theory pan out.

Oettinger made a career-high 47 saves on 48 shots faced (also a career-best) and beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, at KeyBank Center. It was a stunning performance that reflected the Oettinger who earned his All-Star nod more on his career play than his performance this season.

“That’s what we were hoping,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I was hoping he would go to the All-Star Game and recognize that he belongs with that group of players and come back confident and reset for the stretch drive. That’s what we saw here tonight, so that’s a great sign for us.”

Oettinger was able to hang out with the best players in hockey, and he faced many of them in 3-on-3 action – a style that can embarrass a goalie at times. But he was spectacular and came home with a new attitude.

“You can use it however you want. I feel like I belonged out there and that’s how I’m going to use it,” Oettinger said. “If I can stop these guys, then I should be able to stop a lot of people when we have five guys trying to keep it out of our net. It was such a fun weekend, and now it’s go time and I need to be better than I was and ramp my game up and tonight was a small step in the right direction.”

That said, Tuesday wasn’t a walk in the park. Buffalo outshot Dallas 16-8 in the first period and 16-4 in the second. The Stars had an 18-16 edge in a crazy third period, but both teams struggled with the man advantage, making the final score a real goalie’s duel. The Stars allowed one power play goal on four Buffalo opportunities and cashed in one of five of their own. They finished with 23 blocked shots, and that was one of the few things they did well.

“We gave up the goal on the first, but after that I thought we played really well,” defenseman Esa Lindell said of the penalty kill. “I don’t think they had that many chances. We improved as the game went on.”

And that’s key as the team bussed to Toronto and to face the Maple Leafs in a quick turnaround on Wednesday. It’s a tough ask on the road, but the Stars should be very motivated.

“I don’t even know where to start,” DeBoer said when asked what areas need fixing before the Toronto game.

Forward Radek Faksa, who had an assist and helped kill the penalties, said the team has to learn from the slow start coming out of the All-Star Break.

“We have to play a different game tomorrow,” Faksa said.

As for the play of Oettinger, Faksa said, “He played like an All-Star. To be honest, we won the game just because of him tonight.”

Matt Duchene scored on a first period power play for his 18th goal of the year. Faksa then sent a puck to the net that deflected off of Sam Steel and in for the game-winner in the second period.

“I was hoping for a rebound,” Faksa said. “I had no idea Steeler was even there. I was looking for a bounce more than a pass.”

Dallas had a 49-33 advantage in faceoffs, a 23-13 edge in blocked shots and even took a rare win in the hits category at 15-11. And while those things were helpful, Oettinger was the first, second and third star of the game.

“This whole win is because he was unreal today,” Lindell said.

Oettinger was asked if this is the best he has felt this year and responded, “This might be the best I have felt in my whole career. Sometimes hockey goes that way.”

So what was it like?

“It’s huge,” he said. “I feel like I was due for that. I got the bounces tonight, a couple of posts. I felt I looked like a goalie in the 80s. I got lucky tonight and that’s what you need sometimes.”

Especially if you want to get your mojo back.

“We’ve seen him when he’s on like that,” DeBoer said. “He’s one of the elite goalies in the world, and everyone needs that at some point in the season. We got it tonight.”

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.