DALLAS — Midway through the Stars’ 2-0 win over the Capitals on Thursday night, Jake Oettinger might have thought he was in a nightmare.
Alex Ovechkin was staring him down, right from the slot after a Jani Hakanpää turnover. Ovechkin was the Capitals’ main form of offense on Thursday, as the future Hall of Famer had a quarter of Washington’s shots on goal and looked to add to his historic sum of goals.
But Oettinger shut him down, preserving a one-goal Dallas lead and putting him on track to complete his first shutout of the season. Oettinger made 27 saves on Thursday night, and earned his fifth win of the season.