– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — Unlike a couple of weeks ago, the extra time on the ice paid off for Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars.
Oettinger kept out six of seven shots in the shootout to eventually lead the Stars to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks inside American Airlines Center on Saturday evening. Jason Robertson scored the game-tying goal on the power play early in the third period while Radek Faksa scored the first leveling goal early in the second.
The last shootout that the Stars were involved in lasted nine rounds before succumbing to the Boston Bruins on the road back on February 19. Oettinger made seven of nine saves during that session, but came up on the losing end. Despite his strong play, Oettinger received a little bit of luck at the end of it, with Luke Kunin’s final shot of the shootout hitting the junction of the crossbar and post before kicking out and ending the game.
Immediately before Kunin’s miss, Stars captain Jamie Benn beat San Jose rookie goalkeeper Magnus Chrona with a backhand-to-forehand deke that saw him slot the puck home as he flew into the air.
“[Jamie Benn] has hundreds of goals in this league. He might not want to go out in the shootout, but he’s a goal scorer,” Robertson said. “That’s what he’s been doing his whole career. I’m sure he came out and knew what he wanted to do. He executed it for us and helped us get a big point.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s contest, with photos taken by Dallas-area photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 20 pictures in total.
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