Oettinger, Stars blank Chicago, 1-0, after skills Fleury earns fourth shutout of the season in loss

In Chicago, Jake Oettinger made 34 saves  and the Dallas Stars earned one of two shutouts on the night, in a 1-0, win over the Blackhawks after the skills competition.

“It’s crazy,” Oettinger said. “Luckily before the game I got a stick from him, so I was pretty pumped about that. To go against him is pretty cool, especially to get the win in a cool building with a great atmosphere.

“When I was in high school, I was obsessed with him. I loved (No.) 29. I also loved 30 because of [Henrik] Lundqvist. I might be switching to that next year. I don’t know yet.”

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves  to earn the second shutout of the evening.

“Ah, it happens,” Fleury said. “We didn’t play bad, though, right? All game we hung in there and didn’t do too much. Had to go all the way to settle it down. Still disappointing to come out with a loss when so close to get that win. It would be nice to get one there at home.”

Jacob Peterson was credited with the deciding goal in the sixth round of the skills competition.

“I tried that before, actually,” Peterson said of his shootout move. “I tried it in the preseason and it worked, so I was thinking, ‘Let’s try it again,’ and it worked out.

“Of course, it’s cool to score against that guy (Fleury). I watched him growing up, so that’s something I like to do, but it’s not something you think about when you’re there. You just think about doing your move and hope for the best, and that was it.”

Dallas improved to 27-19-2.

“Sometimes I think I’m lucky,” Fleury said of his late regulation saves. “That’s what I meant to do, right? I’m hoping to stop it, obviously. As a goalie, those are the ones I play for and I love doing, you know. Those are the ones that feel good inside. Players like to score. And for me, it’s like I make a save that’s a little bit (of a) tough one. Those are the ones that feel good. Makes me smile.”

The Blackhawks dropped to 18-25-8.

“He’s (Oettinger) on his game right now, and we need him,” Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. “He’s making huge saves for us. We played really well defensively, and so did they. That was probably the best defensive game they played in a while. I’m sure (Chicago coach) Derek (King) got after them after giving up seven last night. And Fleury was great for them. He made some phenomenal saves for them, but Jake made the big saves at the right time.”