Oettinger's Second Straight Shutout Silences Sabres as Stars Roll 4-0

The Dallas Stars are quickly becoming the NHL's hottest team, and Jake Oettinger is the reason why. The Stars goaltender stopped all 26 shots he faced Thursday night at KeyBank Center, blanking the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 for his second straight shutout — he also shut out San Jose 5-0 on Monday. Jason Robertson opened the scoring midway through the first period on a two-on-one rush, and Dallas buried Buffalo with three goals in a six-minute second-period burst: Sam Steel from the high slot, Mikko Rantanen banking one in off the end boards, and Roope Hintz on the power play. Rantanen finished with a goal and three assists, while Wyatt Johnston added three assists of his own. The Sabres never recovered from another sluggish start — their third straight game conceding first — and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled through the wringer again, falling to 1-2-0 with a difficult .782 save percentage. Coach Lindy Ruff declined to blame his goaltender, saying simply that everybody had to be better. Dallas, after dropping its first two games of the season, has now won three straight and suddenly looks like the Western Conference heavyweight many expected, with a rested and locked-in Oettinger between the pipes.