Rick Bowness sees similarities between Stars rookie Jake Oettinger and Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy

Stars captain Jamie Benn ended a nine-game goalless drought with a goal during a 4-3 shootout loss to the Lightning on Tuesday night.

Benn scored a third-period goal that cut the Tampa Bay lead to 3-2 with 2:06 remaining, his first goal since Feb. 25 at Florida. It was Benn’s second goal in the last 17 games.

“He battles hard,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “He’s great on the bench and when things aren’t going good, you see him trying his best out there to get things going. Glad to see him get a goal. It was huge because it’s been a while since he’s scored. So hopefully, that will get him going again, too.”

Benn’s goal came at six on five and off a terrific pass from Miro Heiskanen in the corner. Heiskanen retrieved a loose puck and swept a backhand directly to Benn in the slot.

Heiskanen was busy in the third period, playing 8:06. He was also on the ice for all three Stars goals on Tuesday, including his power-play goal in the second period and Alexander Radulov’s game-tying goal with 1:25 left in the third.

“He was probably pretty sick,” Benn said. “I wasn’t really focusing on one guy on our team, but I’m sure he was playing a ton of minutes and stepping up his game. Great pass on my goal. So much confidence in the kid. He’s a high-end player for this team and in this league.”

Heiskanen had one shift in overtime that lasted 2:30, and he missed a chance to end the game in the extra frame.

“We started great, but I missed the net,” Heiskanen said. “Should hit the net.”

Oettinger good again: Rookie goaltender Jake Oettinger made 33 saves on Tuesday night, continuing a string of strong performances. He kept the Stars in the game in the first period with 18 saves and ended it with three saves in overtime before Ross Colton and Brayden Point both beat him in the shootout.

“That game was over in the first period without Jake,” Bowness said. “Love his composure, love his compete. He’s getting better every game. He battled hard tonight.”

Tuesday was Oettinger’s third straight start, the first time in his career that he earned three consecutive nods. In his last four games — since Anton Khudobin was pulled against Chicago on Thursday — Oettinger has a .920 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average.

“He’s a stud,” Benn said. “We don’t even get to where we got to without him. Played a great game, we’re asking a lot of him and he’s definitely stepping up. Just can’t say enough good things about him.”

If there’s been a Kryptonite for Oettinger, it’s been overtimes and shootouts. Seven of his 11 starts have needed extra time, and the Stars have only won one of those games.

“I know he was a bit hard on himself after the shootout, but he got us there,” forward Jason Robertson said. “He was our guy. Everyone trusts him, everyone knows he gave his all. He’s one of the better goalies in the NHL as a rookie, so kudos to him. We’ll need him along this stretch.”

Bowness, meanwhile, sees a bit of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in the 22-year-old Oettinger.

“Imagine what Jake’s going to be in six, seven years,” Bowness said. “He’ll be right there [by Vasilevskiy].”

No Gurianov: Forward Denis Gurianov did not play at all in overtime, and Bowness said “He wasn’t feeling it at all tonight. Didn’t like Denis’ game at all.”

Gurianov is typically one of the team’s best weapons in overtime thanks to his speed and scoring ability. But Gurianov has just one goal in his last 18 games, and did not have a shot on net in 16:10.

Was Bowness concerned about the defensive or offensive side of the puck with Gurianov on Tuesday?

“The whole game, both sides,” Bowness said.

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.