DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson and newcomer Matt Duchene scored in the shootout to help the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Thursday night in the season opener for each team.
Jamie Benn scored in regulation for Dallas, which reached the Western Conference Final last season.
Tyler Tucker scored for St. Louis, which failed to reach the playoffs last season for the first time since 2018, finishing 37-38-7.
“We found a way to win against a team that’s been sitting on a tough year all summer, and we knew were going to come out heavy and hard,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s a better team than their record last year. The good thing for us, I thought we got better as the game went on.”
“This time of the year, it’s either a really tight game or it’s pond hockey,” said Duchene, 32, who was signed last summer after Nashville bought out his contract. “That was a tight one.”
Robertson and Brayden Schenn traded shootout goals in the first round. Robertson, who led Dallas last season with 46 goals and 109 points, didn’t register a shot on goal until overtime. On Robertson's second shot, he was stoned by Jordan Binnington on a 2-on-1 with 42.2 seconds left.
Robertson was hooked by Blues newcomer Kevin Hayes on the play, but St. Louis killed off a 4-on-3 power play for the remainder of overtime.
Duchene put Dallas ahead 2-1 before Jake Oettinger made a save on Pavel Buchnevich. After Tyler Seguin was stopped by Binnington to open the third round, St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou couldn’t get his shot off against Oettinger, who made 23 saves in regulation and overtime.
Benn opened the scoring 18 seconds into the second period on a wraparound that beat Binnington, who made 33 saves in regulation and OT.
The Blues answered when defenseman Tucker whistled a shot from the high slot through traffic at 2:37, tying it at 1. Tucker scored once in 26 Blues games last year in his first NHL season.
Binnington made two standout saves in the period. He robbed Joe Pavelski with a sprawling glove save about five minutes in and extended his left leg to deny Wyatt Johnston in the closing seconds.
“We’ve got to be positive. I think we’re more aggressive (defensively),” Binnington said. “We’re focusing on our job and being there for our teammates as well. I think we’re in a good spot.”
The Blues successfully challenged Mason Marchment’s tip-in goal with 12 seconds left in the first, two seconds after Luke Schenn’s tripping penalty expired, for being offside when Dallas’ Evgenii Dadonov entered the zone.
With the goal disallowed, the clock was set back to 45.8 seconds left in the period and Schenn returned to the penalty box.
Dallas was 4-3 in shootouts last season. St. Louis was 3-3.
The Stars played without top-line center Roope Hintz because of an upper-body injury that sidelined him through the entire preseason schedule. Hintz had a career-best 75 points last season and led the team with 24 postseason points.
UP NEXT
Blues: Saturday’s home opener vs. Seattle.
Stars: Tuesday at Vegas. The Golden Knights beat the Stars in last season’s West final en route to their first Stanley Cup title.
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The Associated Press