Stars win season opener against Blues in shootout

DALLAS — Jamie Benn scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves in a 2-1 season-opening shootout victory for the Dallas Stars against the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Wyatt Johnston and Ty Dellandrea each had an assist for the Stars, who outscored the Blues 2-1 in the shootout. Oettinger had the entire bottom of the net covered and poke-checked Blues defenseman Jordan Kyrou’s shootout attempt to seal the win.

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“It was a hard-fought game,” said Dallas forward Matt Duchene, who played 20:44 in his Stars debut after signing a one-year contract on July 1. “Really tough game. Lot of skating. They played really well. They’re a fast team, they’re stingy, they break out really well, they’re hard to forecheck, and they got great goaltending tonight.

“We kind of got better as the game went on. Third period was a really good period, had some good looks. Could have ended in OT, fortunately got it done in the shootout.”

Tyler Tucker scored, and Sammy Blais and Jakub Vrana each had an assist for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington made 33 saves.

“It was a fun game. I thought [Binnington] was unreal,” Oettinger said. “Probably should have won that game in regulation but he held them in it. I felt like we deserved to win. You don’t always win those games but just happy it turned out for us.”

Duchene and Jason Robertson had a 2-on-1 breakaway with 44 seconds remaining in overtime, but Blues goalie Jordan Binnington made a diving cross-crease save on a point-blank chance by Robertson to force the shootout.

“Overtime, it’s just compete out there,” Binnington said. “Play free and compete out there is the mindset. It’s a 2-on-1 scenario, shoot or pass, kind of a desperation play there. It was good.”

Benn gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 18 seconds into the second period. He came from behind the net, hesitating with the puck on his stick to draw Binnington out of position before moving toward the bottom of the right circle and roofing in a shot.

“They got shots, they’re going to get shots,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “But I thought for the most part we did a good job of keeping it on the outside and protecting that slot area. Getting in there on rebounds and not letting second or third opportunities happen.”

Tucker tied it 1-1 at 2:37 when his shot got through traffic in front with Blues forward Sammy Blais screening Oettinger.

“Both goalies were outstanding. [Binnington] was great but so was [Oettinger],” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Jake made some key saves in the second period. We just about self-destructed there with turnovers and penalties, and he bailed us out when we were doing that.”

NOTES: Stars forward Roope Hintz did not play because of an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason. He’s considered day-to-day. … Blues forward Kevin Hayes played 14:49 in his debut after being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on June 27.