Kyrou scores 1st goal of season, Blues hold off Stars

ST. LOUIS -- Jordan Kyrou scored his first goal of the season for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

It was the longest stretch to start a season without scoring for Kyrou since his rookie season in 2018-19, when the forward scored his first NHL goal in his 11th game; he did not score in the Blues’ first four games this season.

“Feels good to get the first one finally,” Kyrou said. “… Obviously way better game overall. I thought our habits were great. I thought our effort was great, our compete was great. It’s great to get that first win at home.”

Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter scored for St. Louis (3-2-0), which picked up its first home win of the season in its third game. Jordan Binnington made 18 saves.

“I’d say we had a full 60-minute game,” Binnington said. "Defensively very sound, strong, great breakouts, great penalty kill, special teams was good. Really great effort by everyone tonight. I think we just played our system and we had good habits and I think that went a long way for us tonight. It wasn’t right away, but we got one goal at a time and then closed it out in the end. It was a good performance.

“Guys were supporting the puck, tracking hard and being aggressive, which is the way we want to play. That was a big win at home, which we were due for.”

Mikko Rantanen scored, and Jake Oettinger made 19 saves for the Stars (3-2-0), who have lost two straight after winning three straight to open the season.

“They played well,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought it was a tight-checking game for the first 25-30 minutes. I liked our game through the first (and) halfway through the second. They got the first goal, it was one of those games where the first goal was going to give a team a lot of momentum.”

Kyrou’s first of the season gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 2:27 of the second period when he converted a give-and-go with Brayden Schenn from the slot.

“Great play by ‘Schenner’ to get it to me there,” Kyrou said. “I kind of just saw low glove side so I just shot it there.”

St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery was more impressed that Kyrou won the puck and took the sequence over with his effort.

“Kyrou in particular, his first goal was just an incredible reload where he back-checks and he has his stick on the ice and his God-given ability took over,” Montgomery said. “Our sticks were probably the best I’ve seen them since probably the year after the Blues won the Cup. That was a really good year and that team had great sticks. Something we’ve been preaching and the players are starting to do it. Hopefully we can develop that consistently.”

Snuggerud made it 2-0 at 13:52 off a 3-on-2 odd-man rush with Tyler Tucker driving the middle lane, Pavel Buchnevich taking the initial shot and Snuggerud at the top of the crease able to poke the loose puck past Oettinger.

Binnington's best save was with his glove at the top of the crease on Dallas forward Wyatt Johnston at 5:35 of the third period.

“He’s a nifty player and I know he can get it up quick,” Binnington said of Johnston. “It just worked out well there. Unfortunately they got one at the end there, but it’s hockey so it was a fun game, fun atmosphere and fans were great too.”

Rantanen tapped in a chance at the left post at 17:42 off a pass from Johnston to bring the score to 2-1.

The Blues made sure that their efforts to break up plays would prevent the Stars from getting the tying goal.

“We didn’t break out well enough tonight as a five-man group,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “They did a good job not letting us get any flow there. Tough team to play against. Every game we play against them, it’s 2-1 or whatever. We knew what to expect coming in and we got on the wrong side of it tonight.”

Suter's empty-net goal at 18:59 made it a 3-1 final on a hustle play along the wall, diving and poking the puck the length of the ice just enough to get it in.

“The more we’re getting to know him, the more we realize how smart he is as a hockey player everywhere, and his defensive instincts are really good,” Montgomery said of Suter. “I really liked how well we checked, and it was for 60 minutes. That was a really good team effort. They feel really good about themselves. When you work and you play as five (man units) … our goaltender had to make some great saves, but they weren’t 15. They were less than five.”

NOTES: Rantanen extended his season-opening point streak to five games (three goals, four assists); he now has 33 points (19 goals, 14 assists) in 32 games against St. Louis. … Johnston also extended his season-opening point streak to five games (four goals, two assists). … Duchene played 15:51 after missing one game with an upper-body injury. … Nils Lundkvist missed the game with a lower-body injury and Gulutzan said postgame the Stars defenseman will be “out for a little bit.” … Neighbours had four points the past three games. … Blues defenseman Matthew Kessel was a plus-1 and played 9:11 in his season debut. … St. Louis was outscored 13-3 in its first two home games.