Two nights after being blanked in Game One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Calgary Flames (1-0), the Stars requited in Game Two with a 2-0 shutout of Calgary on May 5. This evened the series 1-1 as the teams head to Dallas for Games Three and Four.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger — who was in the net for the Game One loss, stopping 25-of-26 shots — saved all 29 shots he faced in Game Two and got his first postseason shutout in his second career NHL playoff start.
“The only thing that matters is wins,” Oettinger said. “They have a great goalie on the other end, and we know it’s going to be tight, so the margin for error for me is very slim. So I am just happy that we were able to hold it down in the third [period].”
Dallas Head Coach Rick Bowness, hoping to generate more offense after being shut out in Game One, continued to play forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin on separate lines in Game Two, as he did in the final two periods of Game One.
“There’s not a lot of room for them or us,” Bowness said. “You’ve got to work for everything you get.”
What the Stars got was a goal from Joe Pavelski with twelve minutes to play in the first frame, and then Michael Raffl added an empty-net goal in the third.
On Pavelski’s goal, Dallas defenseman Noah Hanifin deflected the puck off the boards and onto the stick of Jason Robertson inside the blue line. Pavelski then deflected a shot by Robertson over Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom’s glove for the goal.
“Felt good,” said Pavelski, who could not get a shot off in Game One. “You score in the playoffs; it’s always nice. Nice to get the lead, all those parts. Yeah, get that one and move on.”
The best-of-seven series, now tied 1-1, makes its way to American Airlines Center on Saturday, May 7, for Game Three starting at 8:30 p.m. Game Four is on Monday, May 9, with an 8:30 p.m. start time. Tickets for both games are on sale and can be found by clicking the above links.
