Stars Weekly: Offense Clicking in Perfect Starts, Oettinger’s Heroics & Newly Found Physical Mentality

Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene only have two points each, but they have been all over the ice and their chemistry seems to have picked up right where it left off.

All of this to say that the top-six forwards have given the Stars every opportunity to win games, and they’ve taken advantage of it thus far. Not only that, take away metrics and whatever deep stats you want to use, they just look really good and engaged to start the season.

Now, on the negative side of things, the bottom six have given them almost nothing offensively. Nathan Bastian’s goal is one of only two scored by a player not in the top six. It’s early days, and by no means is it the end of the world, but it’s certainly something to pay attention to.

That’s really the only negative thing you can pick on so far. The Stars have 15 goals through three games, and even when the team hasn’t looked its best, the offense has come through.

Jake Oettinger Steals the Show in Games 2 and 3

On Thursday night, the Stars dominated the Jets for large parts of the game, and Jake Oettinger made big saves when he needed to. That is, until the third period, where the heads of everyone wearing a Stars jersey seemed to fall off and the Jets made what was once a 5-1 laugher into a 5-4 nail-biter. When I say “everybody”, that includes Oettinger.

Well, on Saturday, if it wasn’t for Oettinger, the Stars would have been blown away by the Avalanche in the first period, let alone the rest of the game. They were outshot 14-5 in the opening 20 minutes, and Oettinger stood on his head early, seeing pucks through traffic and controlling rebounds, and let the Stars head into the intermission with a 1-0 lead.

Over the next 40 minutes, the Avs continued to outshoot (24-17) and outplay the Stars, but the talent and the opportunistic nature that Dallas has had for years now allowed the Stars to play with the lead for most of that game. After Nathan MacKinnon tied the game at 4-4 halfway through the third, the Avalanche continued their push, and Oettinger made some incredible stops to guarantee the Stars at least a point, and finished the game with 35 saves.

On Tuesday against the Wild, Oettinger was peppered with seven shots within minutes of the puck being dropped and went on to make 39 saves, including 17 in the third period. Speaking of those 17 shots, the Wild were pressing the Stars incredibly hard in the third, and cut a 3-0 lead at the beginning of the period to 3-2 with seven minutes left. Oettinger is the biggest reason the Stars never lost that lead and were able to tack on a couple of empty-net goals to seal the deal.

Through three games, Oettinger has a .905 save percentage and a 3.24 goals-against average. While his numbers might not be flashy, two of these wins were as much on Oettinger’s performance as it was because of the offense.

Side note: With the win over the Jets, Oettinger became the fastest goaltender to reach 150 wins.

Newly Found Physicality

One thing that new head coach Glen Gulutzan preached about over the summer was the desire for every player to be one percent more physical. Last season, the Stars hit less than any team in the NHL, and were hit more than any team in the NHL. This showed itself in the playoffs as well, specifically in the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

Early in the series, Hintz’s foot was broken by a karate chop, and not one teammate did a thing to defend him. In fact, there is video evidence of players standing on the ice just staring. Through three games, the Stars have fought twice, and in both situations, defending a teammate.

I’m not advocating for fighting or screaming for the rough and tough “good ol’ days”. However, this team has been known as a playmaking team full of skill and finesse. That has served them well for 82 regular-season games and two playoff rounds, but by the time the conference final comes around, their lack of physicality always bites them in the you-know-what.

We’re a long way away from the conference final, of course, but it’s good to see some toughness and the guys standing up for themselves and each other.

Lots of Home Cooking in the Future

Fresh off the home opening victory, the Stars will host the Vancouver Canucks tonight, before heading to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Saturday. After that, they won’t leave Dallas until Oct. 26, hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, and the Carolina Hurricanes in that stretch.

It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Stars have been finding ways to win early, and for now, that will do just fine.