Joel Hofer stopped all 25 Dallas shots Friday night, which is both an excellent goaltending performance and an inconvenient way for the Stars to begin a season. St. Louis won 4-0 at American Airlines Center, with two late empty-net finishes adding to a result Dallas had spent the night trying to change.
Hofer deserves the first word. The Blues goaltender recorded his ninth NHL shutout, turning aside 20 shots at even strength, four during Dallas power plays and one while Dallas was shorthanded. That is not a goalie quietly waiting for the game to pass. Hofer handled every category of work the Stars sent his way, including four Dallas power-play shots.
St. Louis also deserves credit for making the opening period count. The Blues held an 11-7 advantage in shots during the first 20 minutes, and Mason McTavish scored just 1:34 into the game. Jake Oettinger stopped Colton Parayko’s initial attempt, but McTavish followed the rebound and put St. Louis ahead.
That play was simple in the best hockey sense: a shot reached the net, a forward stayed with it and the second chance became a goal. Dallas did not give Hofer the same early volume. The 11-7 count cannot tell us which shots were most dangerous, and it cannot establish that Hofer’s saves were routine.
It does show that the Stars had fewer opportunities to test him before the Blues had already changed the conditions of the game.
Glen Gulutzan said Dallas found its legs in the second period. That slower beginning gave an effective opposing goalie less early work than the Stars needed him to face. That is the fair criticism of Dallas’ beginning. It is also a criticism of timing and execution, not proof that the offense is permanently defective.
The Stars offered evidence against a larger indictment in the second period, outshooting St. Louis 10-5. Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin each registered four shots, together accounting for eight of Dallas’ 25 shots on goal. The attack generated more activity after the opening frame, even if it never generated the goal required to make that improvement matter on the scoreboard.
Then came the sequence that made the deficit harder to overcome. With 6:55 remaining in the middle period, Dalibor Dvorsky scored after Dallas failed to secure the puck behind its net. Oettinger had moved it toward Nils Lundkvist, but Pius Suter won the next exchange and fed Philip Broberg.
As Oettinger tried to return to the crease, he became entangled with Roope Hintz. Broberg then found Dvorsky in the open area for a finish.
