Heika’s Take: Oettinger stands tall as Stars snap mini-skid with 3-1 win over Columbus

The Stars took a step forward Saturday in a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It was a wobbly step, a messy step, an incomplete step…but a step forward nonetheless.

Dallas was outshot 25-17, needed both a last-second goal in the first period and an overturned Columbus goal on a challenge, and pretty much had to lean on goalie Jake Oettinger during a lopsided third period…but all of that resulted in a victory that halted a two-game losing streak and pushed the team to 8-5-1 on the young season.

“The difference in the game was Jake,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought we got outplayed for 40 [minutes]. We were in our back half too much. We’re not playing our best hockey right now and you need something to bail you out. I thought it was a little bit of our power play…but mostly Jake."

And that’s important. The Stars played their worst game in a 5-1 loss to New Jersey on Tuesday and were only a little bit better in a 5-2 loss to Montreal on Thursday. So as the team ended a six-game homestand, they needed something more.

They got bits and pieces of it – mostly in the form of better defense and better goaltending. Esa Lindell returned after a five-game injury absence, and that helped put the defense pairs back in order.

“I thought we were better tonight,” said defenseman Thomas Harley, who scored his first goal since March 14 of last season. “We didn’t force things quite as much. We weren’t stubborn. We put it in. We got to work. But they’re a good team. They defend well. They work hard. They forecheck hard. It was kind of an ugly game tonight, but came out [with the win].”

Harley’s goal was a key. The Stars were the better team in the first period and were clinging to a 1-0 lead thanks to a beautiful passing play between Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen on the power play. Rantanen’s seventh goal of the season just two minutes in gave the Stars the room to breathe a little. Then, with time ticking down at the end of the first, Harley whipped a puck from the wall that slipped in with less than a second remaining and gave the hosts a 2-0 lead.

“I know time is ticking down,” Harley said. “There’s no play but fire it at the net and it went in. Thank goodness, lucky enough.”

The Stars needed that goal. Columbus scored early in the third period, but had the goal taken away on an offside review. Gulutzan took a timeout after Val Nichushkin scored for Columbus just to allow his video assistants time to get a good look at the play. The coach then asked for a review and the league determined Columbus was offside.

“It was taking a little long to actually see it,” Gulutzan said. “I wanted more time. You want to make sure.”

That was huge when Columbus scored later to make it 2-1. Oettinger stood tall the rest of the way, and Arttu Hyry added an empty-net goal in the final second for the 3-1 score.

In addition to Lindell’s return to play, free agent signee David Perron made his Stars debut, playing 11:31. The 38-year-old veteran was rusty, but he said he felt good at the end of the game.

“It was a little bit weird,” Perron said. “I thought the guys helped me out quite a bit. The first and second period was a little fast, you have to react a lot quicker. I felt like the third was better. It’s nice now. You can start building onto something. That was the first one. We move forward.”

That’s sort of true for the entire team. Yes, it was far from a perfect game. Yes, it was a much-needed win.

“Today, it was a hard game,” Lindell said. “We battled hard. [Columbus] pushed us hard. It was a solid home win.”

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 X @MikeHeika.