EditorsNote: minor edits for clarity
Goaltender Jake Oettinger beat Arizona for the first time, Radek Faksa scored twice in Dallas’ three-goal first period, and the Stars opened their eight-game homestand with a 4-0 blanking of the Coyotes on Saturday night.
In his 35th outing this season, Oettinger (21-7-4) stopped 33 shots for his sixth career shutout, fourth this season and second this week. He is 8-2-1 in his past 11 decisions.
Jamie Benn recorded his ninth power-play goal, 19-year-old Wyatt Johnston netted for the 12th time, and Miro Heiskanen had two assists for the Stars, who beat Arizona for the 15th time in the past 18 contests (15-2-1).
All three Dallas victories this week were by a 4-0 margin.
Playing in their league-high 29th road game, the Coyotes went 0-for-3 on the power play and lost for the 23rd time on the road (6-20-3). They are 1-11-0 in the past 12 matches overall and have dropped their last 15 away from home (0-13-2).
After surrendering three goals on 10 shots and being pulled on Nov. 3 in a home loss to Dallas, netminder Connor Ingram had another chance against the Stars. But he turned in the exact same showing in the game’s first 13:17 as Arizona trailed 3-0.
In the first of four home games before the NHL All-Star break, the Stars jumped all over the Coyotes inside the first five minutes. Faksa, the fourth-line center, took advantage of a friendly rebound less than three minutes in by collecting Denis Gurianov’s shot that was stopped by Ingram and potted it at 2:36.
Shortly thereafter late in the match’s first power play, Benn redirected a shot by Jason Robertson for his 18th tally at 4:52 and a 2-0 lead.
At 13:17, Faksa gave the Stars a 3-0 lead by popping in his second rebound goal and sixth tally overall.
Oettinger was at his best in the second period while under constant fire. He made splendid point-blank saves on Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Nick Ritchie after Luke Glendening’s delay-of-game penalty at 8:11.
Five minutes later, Oettinger stretched out for a right skate-save to barely stop Michael Carcone’s breakaway attempt at the left post.
But any optimism Arizona may have gained disappeared a minute later when Johnston chipped in a pass by Heiskanen, giving the defenseman a career-high 32 helpers.
--Field Level Media