Oettinger helps Stars defeat Red Wings

DALLAS -- Jake Oettinger made 28 saves in his season debut for the Dallas Stars, a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

"I just tried to put myself in a good spot and take away the lower half of the net and be patient," Oettinger said. "Obviously, those guys are so good in tight. Thankfully, I was able to come up with a few saves in tight there. Those were turning points in the game, and it's the goalie's job to step up, especially if you let in a couple goals that aren't the strongest, it's important to respond and give those guys confidence."
Jason Robertson had two goals and an assist for the Stars (6-6-2), who have won two straight.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for the Red Wings (8-8-2), who were coming off a 5-3 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
"We've got to get better defensively, that's just the reality of it," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "We're a pretty good team when we have the puck. We're a pretty good team when we're hounding. We're a pretty good team when we're playing offense. We're not a good enough team defensively right now."

Ryan Suter gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 13:33 of the first period. Radek Faksa eluded Marc Staal in the right circle while the Stars made a line change before finding Suter, who shot through a screen from the high slot.
"They came out hard, they pushed the pace," Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. "They play fast, especially in this building. They come out fast, they play hard. They're a big, physical team. They try to win net-front battles at both ends. They play a simple game, get pucks to the net and try to outwork you in front of the net. Tonight, they played harder than we did, and they came out faster and were more ready to go than we were."
Jamie Benn extended the lead to 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period when he redirected a point shot from Miro Heiskanen.
"We need to get pucks out when there's chances to get pucks out," DeKeyser said. That's how a lot of offense is created in this league is from turnovers or from a defensive play that doesn't work out how you want it to. For us, we've got to win more battles."
Roope Hintz scored for the third straight game to make it 3-0 at 7:24, beating Nedeljkovic blocker side from the top of the right circle.
"Yeah, Roope made a great shot," Robertson said. "I feel like he's made that similar shot 10 times this year. Sometimes it hits the pole, most times it hits the pole, so it's great to see it go in there right now. I think scoring chances in the second period, I think we had plentiful. … It's great to kind of get that mojo back."

Filip Zadina made it 3-1 at 9:09 of the second with a backhand off a rush, and Dylan Larkin cut it to 3-2 at 14:39 when he beat Oettinger over his glove from the left circle on a power play.
Robertson pushed the lead to 4-2 at 3:48 of the third period on a wraparound. With the primary assist on the play, Joe Pavelski extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, four assists).
Robertson then scored his second of the game into an empty net at 18:23 for the 5-2 final.
"We had good chemistry last year, so with that you have that trust, that belief it's going to be there," Pavelski said about playing on a line with Robertson and Hintz. "Partly I think playing with a couple of really smart players, competitive players as well. So if we're willing to work and support each other, we're going to create a lot of those chances, and it's showing."
NOTES:The Red Wings have not won in Dallas since Feb. 29, 2016 (0-7-2). … Larkin was removed from the game after the second period because of COVID-19 protocols. … Pavelski played in his 1,100th game, becoming the 29th U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach the milestone. He has scored 91 points (43 goals, 48 assists) in 137 games with the Stars after playing his first 963 games (761 points) with the San Jose Sharks.