The Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday night, pulling within two points of first place in the Western Conference standings.
Jake Oettinger made 33 saves through overtime before stopping all three Colorado shootout attempts. Wyatt Johnston scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
The win moved Dallas to 43-15-10 with 96 points. Colorado remains atop the NHL standings at 44-13-10 with 98 points.
It’s the closest any team has been to the Avalanche since Dec. 10.
Johnston had the lone goal in the shootout while Oettinger denied Nathan MacKinnon to seal the victory. This marked the third straight shootout between these Central Division rivals this season.
Jason Robertson also scored for Dallas, which bounced back from Monday’s 6-3 loss to Utah. That defeat ended their franchise record-tying point streak of 15 games at 14-0-1.
Oettinger improved to 12-0-1 over his last 13 games.
Colorado dropped to 1-3-1 over its last five games, including Monday’s 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh. Scott Wedgewood made 17 saves after being pulled in the first period against the Penguins.
Cale Makar scored his 20th goal of the season on a power play to give Colorado a 1-0 first-period lead.
Robertson tied it on a rebound in the second period.
Both teams entered banged up but played with playoff intensity. The Avalanche are missing several forwards, including captain Gabriel Landeskog with a lower-body injury. Dallas was without Mikko Rantanen and center Roope Hintz, both with lower-body injuries.
These teams have split their season series. Dallas won 5-4 in a shootout at Ball Arena on Oct. 11. Colorado took the rematch 5-4 at Dallas on March 6.
The teams meet again April 4.
What’s Next
Dallas visits Minnesota on Saturday.
Colorado opens a four-game road trip Friday night at Chicago.
