COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the Stars embarked eight days ago on road trip through five Eastern Conference cities, it seemed like a daunting task.
Consider that challenge conquered after a 2-1 win in Columbus on Monday night, as the Stars head back to Dallas with a 3-1-1 record on the trip.
“I think coming into the trip, I probably would have been happy with .500,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “To come out 3-1-1 is a great trip this time of year.”
On Monday, Jake Oettinger made 27 saves and came within 14.3 seconds of a shutout in his 100th career game. Wyatt Johnston scored 55 seconds into the second period on a Ryan Suter rebound, and Jason Robertson added an empty-net goal that ended up being the game-winning one.
Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov did his best to keep rebuilding Columbus in the game with 32 saves, stymying Stars chances consistently in tight and on the rush. According to advanced statistics website MoneyPuck, Tarasov should have given up around four goals on Monday, but he surrendered just one.
“I thought their goalie was really good, our first time seeing him,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “Jake is Jake. He comes to play every night and battles for us and gives us a chance.”
For the Stars, Monday’s game against the Blue Jackets resembled a breather. They’d already weathered an obstacle course of hazards on their way to Central Ohio.
Pittsburgh won five in a row before beating the Stars. New Jersey had the second-best record in the NHL. Washington ripped off five straight wins before the Stars won Thursday. Carolina entered Monday with wins in nine of their last 10 games.
“We knew if we played well tonight, it would be a great trip,” Oettinger said. “You’ve got to find different ways to win. Sometimes, you win 6-5 and sometimes you win 1-0, 2-1. It’s a great road trip and looking forward to getting home.”
It was the 10th regulation road win of the season for the Stars. Last season, the Stars finished the season with 10 regulation road wins, and No. 10 didn’t come until road game No. 38.
The Stars’ path to a successful road trip was obstructed by Tarasov.
In the first period, Robertson, Mason Marchment and Joel Kiviranta each had prime scoring chances on the rush. Riley Tufte and Marchment both had stuff attempts around the crease. Roope Hintz had three scoring chances driving the net in the second period, and set up Joe Pavelski for another. Even in the third period, Pavelski was stoned on a tip and rebound attempt.
Tarasov made sure to keep his team in the game. So did Oettinger.
Oettinger entered Monday after denying Alex Ovechkin a milestone goal in Washington, and almost left it with his fifth career shutout. Kent Johnson ruined the bid with a 6-on-5 goal in the final minute of the game.
But a string of strong starts has returned Oettinger to the top of his game, after a lower-body injury knocked him off it. Including Monday, Oettinger has a .935 save percentage and 1.96 goals against average in six starts since he was pulled against Minnesota on Dec. 4.
Oettinger said his key was “just not thinking, and kind of playing.”
“Just I feel like the last two weeks or so, I’ve played some of the best hockey of my career,” Oettinger said. “Even when you play well, sometimes, you don’t get rewarded. It’s a long process, and I feel good about where my game’s at, but it’s a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, so it’s going good right now. Looking to keep it that way.”
DeBoer: “You’re spoiled because he makes some tough saves look easy. He’s so big and composed. We bent a little bit, especially early in that game. I thought in the first period, we gave up too many quality looks, and he let us get our feet under us in the second and third and stopped all the ones he should.”
The Blue Jackets hit two posts in the third period as they tried to find an equalizer, but couldn’t find the back of the net until Johnson’s spoiler.
The Stars will have to continue to win on the road, as nine of their next 14 games are away from the American Airlines Center, before an eight-game home stand in February.
“Fifth game of a tough road trip, we kept it pretty peanut butter and jelly,” Benn said. “Pretty simple. Jakey was pretty good in the pipes and got a big two points.”
Briefly: Only Ed Belfour (60) had more wins in his first 100 games as a Star than Oettinger’s 54 victories. On Monday, Oettinger broke a tie with Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen, who each had 53 wins in their first 100 games with Dallas.
“Just have fun and enjoy it,” Oettinger said. “You’ve got to enjoy the good times, because there’s definitely bad times, too.”
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