Stars Elite Start on Defense Overshadowing Offensive Woes

On Thursday, the Dallas Stars once again stood strong defensively, holding the Winnipeg Jets to just 19 shots and two goals in a 3-2 overtime win and extending their season-opening run of stingy defense.

It was the eighth time in their first ten games that the Stars have held an opponent to two or fewer goals and has now allowed just 16 goals through ten games for a 1.60 goals-against per game average.

It has been a team effort with defensemen like Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell among the rest of the group playing steady, while goaltender Jake Oettinger is off to potentially the best start of his career. He is 5-2-1 with a league-best 1.23 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and three shutouts.

The results are even more impressive given some of the opponents. The Stars held the Colorado Avalanche to five total goals in a home-and-home series earlier this season, limited the red-hot Boston Bruins to two goals in an overtime victory, and shut out a Buffalo Sabres team that made the playoffs just a few months ago.

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The schedule, outside of those few games, has not been especially demanding. Dallas has faced some non-playoff teams and weaker offenses, like the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and, on Thursday, the Jets. It isn't set to get much harder soon, either. 

The Stars are scheduled to face the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets twice and the Sharks again, with their lone tough tests being the Montreal Canadiens next Thursday and the Washington Capitals the following Tuesday.

Either way, if Dallas can keep its run on the back end alive, it makes life easier for an offense that has been slow out of the gate. The Stars are scoring 2.50 goals per game, tied with the Los Angeles Kings for fifth-worst in the NHL. A hot start from the defense allows the offense to go to work, build early leads and play without the pressure of trying to make up ground.

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