In the aggregate, Jake Oettinger’s first season as the Stars’ starting goaltender has been sparkling.
His .923 save percentage is fourth-best in the league among goalies with at least 10 games played. His 2.35 goals against average is fifth-best in the NHL among the same group. On Thursday night, he posted the fourth shutout of his career when the Stars beat the Ducks 5-0.
But, in reality, Oettinger’s season has been broken into two acts. There was his brilliant opening salvo, in which he became an early Vezina Trophy betting favorite. Then there was his return from a lower-body injury and a subsequent fall back to earth.
Maybe Thursday’s performance signals another run of strong starts for the 23-year-old franchise goaltender?
“Jake was really solid,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said after Thursday’s game. “He was quiet, he was composed.”
Oettinger made 31 saves on Thursday night, including 12 in the first period. During the first Anaheim power play that began 88 seconds into the game, Oettinger made four saves.
“It’s kind of nice to get some shots early,” Oettinger said. “For me, it always sucks when we’re dominating play and don’t get a lot of shots. For me to be able to get some shots early, felt like I was back in the game. I didn’t know how I was going to feel based on the last few days, so the guys did a good job in front of me, and I didn’t have to do too much.”
Oettinger was supposed to start Monday in St. Louis, but did not because of an illness. He practiced Wednesday and skated Thursday morning before shutting out the Ducks.
“He had that stomach bug or whatever, and he comes back and when we needed him, he was there,” Stars forward Jason Robertson said. “That’s another great performance from him.”
The shutout was a nice return to form for Oettinger, who had allowed nine goals in his last two starts against Chicago and Winnipeg.
In his opening seven games, Oettinger posted league-leading numbers: a .952 save percentage and a 1.40 GAA. After suffering a lower-body injury against the Rangers on Oct. 29, he missed almost two weeks of action.
When he returned, he did so with a .891 save percentage and 3.48 GAA in his next eight games. He allowed five goals on three different occasions, including a 13-save effort against San Jose on Nov. 11.
It was understandable that a downturn was coming for Oettinger after his blistering start, and the Stars will surely take Oettinger landing above the .920 threshold for the rest of the season.
Oettinger has been one of the biggest reasons the Stars penalty kill has remained one of the league’s best so far. His .914 save percentage while shorthanded is second in the NHL (minimum 10 games), and that’s helped the Stars have the second-ranked penalty kill in the league (5.54 goals allowed per 60 minutes).
If Oettinger was a league-average goalie on the PK, the Stars would have allowed 5.46 more goals this season. That continued Thursday night.
“Makes a couple huge saves on the PK early,” Stars forward Joe Pavelski said. “The penalty kill was big for us off the start, allowed us to get going and gave us that little bit of momentum early.”
DeBoer: “You know what, there were some tough saves early, especially on their power play, a couple of seam passes, a couple of lateral one-timers that he got across. He made a couple of those saves look really easy that were very difficult.
“When he’s dialed in and he’s there before the puck gets there, and playing with that calmness that he has the ability to play with, he’s again an elite goalie.”
Briefly: The Stars were off Friday and will practice Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
