The Dallas Stars opened the 2023-2024 season with a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over the St. Louis Blues at the American Airlines Center on Thursday night.
The teams battled through excellent goalie play, and Dallas was able to create more scoring chances and earn the win as it found its footing late in the game.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Stars forward Matt Duchene, who scored the winning goal in his team debut, told the media postgame. “[There was] a lot of skating. They played really well. They were a fast team, they were stingy, they [broke] out really well, they were really hard to forecheck, and they had great goaltending tonight. We got better as the game went on. The third period was a very good period, and we had some good looks. [It] could’ve ended in OT. Fortunately, we got done in the shootout.”
The Stars appeared to draw first blood, putting the puck past St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington in the final seconds of the first period. However, the play was reviewed, and the goal was nullified on an offsides call.
Captain Jamie Benn quickly made up for the mistake, taking a pass from Ty Dellandrea behind the net and wrapping it around the front of the goal to give Dallas a 1-0 lead early in the second period.
St. Louis tied the game a couple of minutes later as defenseman Tyler Tucker moved into the slot after having his slapshot blocked and fired the puck into the net.
Neither team managed to score again in regulation, and the game went to overtime.
With under a minute left in the extra period, the Stars created a two-on-one scoring chance, but Binnington got his glove on Jason Robertson’s shot to keep the score even and force the shootout.
Tied 1-1 in the shootout, Duchene beat Binnington for the winning goal, and St. Louis’ final shooter could not get a clean shot off on the last attempt, preserving a season-opening victory for Dallas for the fourth consecutive year.
Dallas (1-0-0) heads on a two-game road trip against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks before returning home to host the Philadelphia Flyers on October 21.
