Oettinger, Stars blank Columbus

In Dallas, the Stars’ Jake Oettinger made 21 saves to earn his first NHL shutout, 5-0, over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

“It’s a dream come true, really special,” Oettinger said. “My brother and my sister were here tonight, so I was really happy that they’re able to see that live.

“The guys just did such a good job. They’ve been playing great in front of me the whole year. I can’t say enough good things about the way we played tonight.”

Roope Hintz scored once in the win that snapped a four-game losing streak.

“This kid (Oettinger)  is a great kid, a tremendous competitor, but he works,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “Good to see him get his first shutout tonight. But it’s his work ethic, and he’s a great teammate. We’re all very happy for him.”

Jason Dickinson  got the scoring started with a quick strike in the first period for a 1-0 lead.

“It’s simple. Get to the net,” Dickinson said. “When you’re not scoring, that’s one of the easiest things you can do to try and create offense. Just get in there and stir something up.”

Just 45 seconds later Joe Pavelski  scored off the power play to make it 2-0.

“We can complain about the play at the beginning of the game, but we still don’t score a goal to try to go against that,” Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said. “We didn’t have enough consistency from our offensive guys throughout the game.”

Hintz set up Pavelski for the score.

“He’s been good all year,” Pavelski said. “When he’s in the lineup he definitely gives us a different element. Obviously, getting that power play going was important. It’s been a little quiet.”

Miro Heiskanen  made it 4-0 and Radek Faksa  added a shorthanded strike for the 5-0 final.

Joonas Korpisalo got the start for the Blue Jackets and yielded four while making 18 saves, he got the hook at the midway point of the third period.

“If you’re going to make it at the end here, you have to be able to string one, two, three, four sets together,” the Blue Jackets’ Nick Foligno said. “The first one puts you in position to sweep a series, so to speak. We have to find ways to do that. The teams that are in the playoff picture right now are the ones doing that.”

Veini Vehvilainen made his NHL debut in a mop up role and made three saves.