Jake Oettinger had gone eight straight periods without allowing a goal. On Saturday in Pittsburgh, that run finally stopped - and the Dallas Stars still needed overtime and a shootout to settle it.
Oettinger stopped 19 of 20 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, per ESPN's box score. Connor Dewar's backhand at 1:57 of the third ended Oettinger's scoreless streak at 188:52, the longest of his NHL career and the third-longest in Stars history behind Ben Bishop (233:04 in 2018-19) and Ed Belfour (219:26 in 2000-01), NHL.com reported.
Dallas had gone 206:08 without surrendering a goal as a team, a franchise record.
The previous two starts were clean sheets: 13 saves in a 5-0 win over San Jose on Monday and 26 in a 4-0 win at Buffalo on Thursday.
One soft-looking goal, then a point earned
Dewar's shot looked harmless until it fluttered off Lian Bichsel and over Oettinger's shoulder for the game's first goal after two scoreless periods. Tyler Seguin tipped Jason Robertson's shot at 19:30 of the third to force overtime, and Oettinger kept the Stars alive through five extra minutes before Pittsburgh won the shootout.
"He gave us a chance," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said, per NHL.com. "You've got to score a goal to help him out. I don't know. Eight shutout periods? You can't ask for more than that. We had to be better in front of him today on the offensive side of things."
Forward Justin Hryckowian called the goaltender "a pro's pro," adding that when Oettinger and Casey DeSmith are dialed in, teammates want to block shots for them.
