The Dallas Stars return home finally having scored, but coach Glen Gulutzan’s team will still be in search of its first win when it hosts the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
It’s the first time since December 2021 that the Stars have lit the lamp only once in a two-game span during the regular season. It’s also a far cry from last season, when the Stars scored 273 goals. Their 3.33 average was good for ninth in the league.
“I don’t think we’ve executed at the level we need to be through the first two games,” Gulutzan said. “Certainly on the offensive side of the puck.”
Dallas has lost its first two games of the season for the first time since 2019-20. The Stars lost their first three seven years ago en route to a 1-7-1 start, although they turned it around in that COVID-shortened season and reached the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
The Sharks began their previous four seasons with lengthy losing streaks, but they have won their first two games for the first time in five years — a promising start for a young team seeking its first postseason appearance since making the Western Conference finals in 2019.
However, San Jose allowed both games to go to overtime at home. On Thursday, the Sharks allowed the Florida Panthers to rally from a 3-0 deficit and force five more minutes. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings trailed 4-2 midway through the third period but fought back to earn a point.
Tyler Toffoli, who scored a power-play goal in Saturday’s win, credited goalie Yaroslav Askarov, who stopped 31 Kings shots.
“He’s pretty much won us both of these games,” Toffoli said. “So, we have a lot more to give, and we all know that we can all get better, but we’re definitely in a good place.”
Askarov has 54 saves on 61 shots this season. The 24-year-old became the Sharks’ top goalie last season — starting 47 games — but he has faced the Stars just once. He gave up three goals on 23 shots last Dec. 5 in Dallas when the Stars won 4-1.
Sharks center Macklin Celebrini is off to a strong start. He entered Sunday’s games ranked second in the league with five assists, which includes setting up both overtime winners.
For Saturday’s winner, the 20-year-old Celebrini did more than dish the puck. The top pick in the 2024 draft checked Kings center Quinton Byfield, five inches taller and 40 pounds heavier, into the corner to create a defensive zone takeaway. Celebrini then skated up the ice and set up Igor Chernyshov, who scored from the right faceoff circle for his second of the night and season.
Celebrini, who had 45 goals last season, will look for his first this season on Monday.
He’ll likely face Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger, who has been the Stars’ top goalie since the 2021-22 season. Oettinger started the team’s season opener on Friday, allowing two goals on 22 shots before the St. Louis Blues added a pair of empty-netters to win 4-0.
In 10 career games against the Sharks, Oettinger is 8-2-0 with a 2.78 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage. He won both games last season, making 16 saves on 17 shots in the 4-1 win on Dec. 5 and stopping 34 of 37 in a 5-3 victory 13 days later in San Jose.
