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Injury scare can’t stop Stars goalie Jake Oettinger in win over Avalanche

The Stars goaltender missed the second period but came back in the third to finish off another strong performance.

Jake Oettinger made his third straight start on Friday night, a decision that Rick Bowness said was easy: “Sometimes, there’s a no-brainer. This would fall into that category.”

Oettinger entered Friday night with wins in all three of his starts, and owned a .955 save percentage in four NHL games. He became the second Stars goalie this season to make three consecutive starts, as Braden Holtby did so from Oct. 19-25.

“Just solid, poised play,” Bowness said of Oettinger. “He’s very calm in the net and he’s reading the play really well. His anticipation is right on. No rebounds, he’s swallowing pucks. He’s right on top of his game.”

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Oettinger played all but 7:22 on Friday night, exiting during the second period after Nicolas Aube-Kubel bowled him over. Oettinger was pulled from the game in accordance to the league’s concussion protocol.

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“I had no idea, I think it takes a little bit for them to look at the play and see if it was a hard hit or whatnot,” Oettinger said.

He said he had to go through balance tests in addition to the baseline concussion test, but was cleared with about 15 minutes left in the second intermission.

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Oettinger now has a league-best .959 save percentage (among goalies with at least five games played).

“I think the biggest part of goaltending is confidence,” Oettinger said. “I’m very confident right now, but obviously, it’s a tough position and it kind of comes and goes with wins and losses. I’m just trying to build on the stuff I do well and continue to work on little stuff. I have so much stuff I want to get better at. It’s a never-ending process for me to just keep getting better.”

Robertson: “I think Jake, his confidence is really high. He’s dialed in and everyone in the room trusts him and I’m sure that gives him a lot of confidence. … He’s feeling it. Everyone in the locker room is feeling it and just try to get this on a roll.”

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The Stars scored on the ensuing power play after the goaltender interference penalty.

Holtby entered the game when Oettinger left, his first game action since the Stars lost to the Predators on Nov. 10. Holtby missed the previous five games with a lower-body injury, and is a candidate to start Saturday night in Arizona against the Coyotes.

Holtby made four saves before Oettinger returned at the start of the third period.

Anton Khudobin was the odd-man out and a healthy scratch. Khudobin, who’s in the second year of a three-year contract with an annual $3.333 million cap hit, has an .873 save percentage. That’s the worst in the league among goalies with at least six starts.

We meet again: Friday’s game was the first one between the Stars and Avalanche since Game 7 of the second round in the 2020 playoffs, when Joel Kiviranta notched a hat trick that included the game-winner in overtime.

Of the 40 players that were active on Friday night, 21 were active for Game 7. The Avalanche had eight holdovers, while the Stars had 13.

— The Stars extended their home win streak to five games on Friday night. In each of the last four seasons, the Stars had at least one home win streak of at least five games.

SeasonNo. of gamesDates
2021-225Nov. 13-26
2020-215April 15-26
2019-207Oct. 29-Nov. 25
2018-195Nov. 16-18
2017-185Nov. 10-Dec. 2
2017-185Oct. 10-Nov. 4
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