Time to give this Dallas Stars goalie his flowers for his performance this year

For about 24 hours earlier this week, it appeared the Dallas Stars would not have starting goaltender Jake Oettinger available for the team's first game following the three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Oettinger ultimately made it back to Dallas on time to dress, but even before his arrival was known, Stars fans were not exactly biting their fingernails.

That's because the guy who plays behind Oettinger most nights is having the best season of his eight-year NHL career.

Casey DeSmith picked up the short-notice start and proceeded to limit a fighting-for-its-playoff-life Seattle Kraken team to just a single goal in the Stars' 4-1 win. It was the team's seventh straight victory and lifted Dallas, for 24 hours, into second place in the Central Division. For DeSmith, the game was the sixth in his own personal last seven in which he has allowed two goals or fewer.

Casey DeSmith proving last year was no fluke with Stars

The 34-year-old has been a godsend for the Stars in a season in which Oettinger, who won a gold medal with Team USA in the Olympics, has struggled. At least, Oettinger has struggled relative to expectations. He carries a 23-10-4 record, but his 2.73 goals-against average and his .897 save percentage are both career lows.

DeSmith, meanwhile, carries a .913 save percentage and a career-high 2.31 GAA. With three more regular-season wins, he'll tie his career high. Not shabby for a guy who didn't secure a regular spot on an NHL roster until he was 27. And it's hardly out of nowhere. DeSmith was strong last year - his first in Dallas after signing a three-year deal for $1 million a year that offseason - when he put up a .915 save percentage and a 2.59 GAA.

DeSmith entering Anton Khudobin territory

The two seasons together don't quite put DeSmith in Anton Khudobin circa 2018-2020, but Dobby was 1b to Ben Bishop's 1a and even became the clear starter when Bishop was out. It's the best pair of consecutive seasons for a pure back-up the Stars have had since Mike Smith worked his way into taking over No. 1 for the Tampa Bay because of his work in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

And it isn't just the regular numbers. Analytics play well for DeSmith, too. His total number of goals saved above expected ranks seventh in the entire NHL. The 14.1 mark is a raw number, meaning it isn't an average. All six of the goalies who rank in front of DeSmith are starters, and at least two, Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Islanders' Ilya Sorokin, appear likely finalists for the Vezina Trophy. Per 60, only Sorokin and Calgary's Devin Cooley have higher rates.

So as much as Stars fans are itching for Oettinger to return to form and Dallas does probably need such a return to make a deep playoff run, the Stars wouldn't be where they are, inching closer to the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL standings, without the unheralded DeSmith.