Dallas Stars Beat Sharks 5–0 for First Win of Season

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

DALLAS — Dallas finally gave its home crowd goals to celebrate Monday.

Three nights after being shut out in their home opener, the Stars scored five times against the San Jose Sharks, earning their first victory of the season before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center.

Five different players scored in the 5–0 win. Jake Oettinger stopped all 13 shots he faced, making several important saves despite San Jose’s low shot total.

“You never want to go 0-3,” Oettinger said. “Obviously, we were off and a little stressed out, but just great team win.”

Dallas improved to 1–2–0. San Jose fell to 2–1–0, playing without Macklin Celebrini after the forward participated in warmups.

Dallas controls the first

Green lighting washed over the ice before warmups as fans gathered along the glass. After the 7:08 p.m. puck drop, Dallas kept San Jose defending for long stretches.

The Stars finished the opening period with a 12–2 advantage in shots. Missed passes, attempts wide and an unsuccessful power play kept Dallas off the scoreboard until late in the period.

“I felt like we won a lot of battles and played with the puck a lot more, a lot more offensive zone time,” Miro Heiskanen said. “I think that was the difference tonight.”

At 18:51, Heiskanen recovered the puck behind the net after San Jose could not control the original chance and scored. He said afterward that he tried to direct the puck at the goalie. Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn assisted.

Heiskanen’s 69th career goal tied Darryl Sydor for sixth among defensemen in franchise history. He has scored in consecutive games.

“We played a pretty good first period,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “If we didn’t get anything for it, things might have changed in the second, but we got the late one.”

Three goals in the second

Joel Kiviranta doubled the lead at 3:17 of the second period. From behind the net, he sent the puck forward, where it struck the goalie and went in. Oskar Bäck and Radek Faksa assisted.

Benn followed with his first goal of the season, drawing loud cheers. Hintz put the puck behind the net, Jason Robertson retrieved it and fed Benn, who battled in front and forced it home.

Robertson made it 4–0 at 16:40. He stopped a clearing attempt, worked the puck into shooting position and fired a hard shot past the goalie.

“The passes from top to bottom were more crispy on our tape,” Robertson said. “That was something we were lacking in the first few games was execution.”

The Benn-Hintz-Robertson line outshot San Jose 6–1 and outscored it 2–0 at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick figures provided by the Stars.

A deflected Tyler Myers shot also hit the post, while attempts from Thomas Harley and Arttu Hyry were gloved.

San Jose struggled to recover the puck and establish its own attack.

“They wanted it more, they’re desperate, they were smothering us, making it hard to get to our game plan,” Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea said.

Oettinger stays ready

Oettinger’s busiest moments included a dangerous second-period chance that he partially stopped before the puck struck the post and he covered it. San Jose also threatened during its power play following Bäck’s high-sticking penalty.

The Sharks opened the third with three shots in roughly 90 seconds, including a Darnell Nurse one-timer. Oettinger stopped them all.

Dallas killed Lian Bichsel’s interference penalty, clearing the puck repeatedly. San Jose finished 0-for-2 on the power play.

Dallas went 0-for-3. Its second opportunity included turnovers and shorthanded threats. The third brought better passing and more chances, but no goal.

At even strength, Dallas continued attacking, keeping play around San Jose’s net with about six minutes remaining.

“One way to slow them down is to grind and play in their zone and force them to defend,” Gulutzan said.

Mikko Rantanen completed the scoring at 15:22, evading a defender on a wraparound and beating the goalie. Sam Steel assisted on Rantanen’s first goal of the season.

San Jose missed Celebrini, but Will Smith said the team needed to play better.

“We need a better effort than that tonight,” Smith said. “That definitely wasn’t reflective of the team we are.”

Oettinger earned his 17th career shutout. Heiskanen, Oettinger and Benn received three-star recognition, and happy fans headed home after Dallas’ first win.