Stars win shootout, trim Avs' Central lead to 2 points

Wyatt Johnston scored the only goal in the shootout, Jake Oettinger had 33 saves through overtime and the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in Denver on Wednesday night in a matchup of the NHL's top two teams.

Jason Robertson scored in regulation for Dallas (43-15-10, 96 points), which moved within two points of Colorado (44-13-10, 98 points) in the Central Division.

Oettinger made a shootout save on Valeri Nichushkin, and Martin Necas fired a shot over the crossbar before Johnston beat Scott Wedgewood on the Stars' third attempt. Nathan MacKinnon had a chance to extend the shootout but was wide on his shot.

The Avalanche's Cale Makar scored in regulation and Wedgewood had 17 saves through overtime before stopping two shots in the shootout. Colorado has lost three straight (0-2-1) to tighten the race with Dallas for the top seed in the Western Conference and in the league overall.

The Avalanche have played one fewer game than the Stars with one matchup remaining, April 4 in Dallas. All three meetings this season have gone to a shootout, with the Stars winning both in Denver and Colorado winning on the road.

Makar gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 18:33 of the first period when his shot from the point beat a screened Oettinger, his 20th of the season. Makar is the first defenseman to record 20 or more goals for three straight seasons since 1991-92.

The Stars tied it in the second period when Nathan Bastian's shot went off the right post, caromed to Robertson in the left circle, and he beat a diving Wedgewood at 6:18.

Both goaltenders made big saves to keep it tied. Wedgewood stoned Johnson on two chances from close in and Oettinger turned away 15 shots in the second period, one on MacKinnon's wrister between the circles.

The teams traded big chances in the overtime, with Wedgewood making a save on Robertson's wraparound chance and Oettinger turning away a shot by Necas.

--Field Level Media