After blowing a 2-0 lead in regulation, defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored with 3:22 left in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win on their opening night at the New York Rangers on Thursday, October 14th. With the win, the Stars improved to 1-0-0, while the Rangers fell to 0-1-1.
The Stars struck first with 34.1 seconds left in the first period, as rookie center Jacob Peterson recovered a loose puck and shot an unassisted backhander by Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, putting Dallas up 1-0.
It was Peterson’s first NHL goal in his first game and his only shot on goal for the night. Peterson credited the preseason with building his confidence.
“The confidence is important,” Peterson said in the post-game press conference. “It’s always been important for my game to have the confidence, and I think I built it up here during the preseason, and that helped me a lot.”
During a power play with 13:49 left in the second period, Radek Faksa rebounded a shot from Heiskanen past Shesterkin to increase the lead to two. Twenty-three seconds later, Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin stole the puck near the Stars’ net and passed it to Ryan Strome for a shot, but Dallas goalie Braden Holtby thwarted the offensive.
Two minutes later, New York defenseman Adam Fox fired a distant goal past Holtby to cut the lead in half. With 4:06 left in the period, winger Chris Kreider deflected a shot from defenseman K’Andre Miller to tie the game at two.
In the third period, Holtby was hit by a wild stick and left the game. He saved 25 of 27 shots and was replaced by Anton Khudobin, who saved all six shots fired at him. With 4:22 left in regulation, center Joe Pavelski had a wide-open angle from the left side of the net, but his shot deflected off the post.
Just 1:38 into overtime, Heiskanen received a pass from left-wing Jamie Benn and scored, cementing their victory.
Shesterkin played the whole game for New York and saved twenty-three of twenty-six shots. Center Mika Zibanejad, defender Ryan Lindgren, Miller and Panarin each had an assist. Dallas defender Ryan Suter, Benn, and Heiskanen each had an assist.
The Stars travel to Boston on Saturday, where they will play the Bruins at 6 PM CST.