Recap: Tocchet Didn't See Pushback vs. Stars in Opener

DALLAS --Head Coach Rick Tocchet didn't witness much pushback from the Coyotes after they fell behind during their 3-0 loss to Dallas on Opening Night at American Airlines Center.
Ben Bishop made 30 saves to lead the Stars to their eighth straight win over Arizona.
"We had some chances," Tocchet said. "Bishop played really well ... There were six or seven guys, I didn't like their game tonight and that was the difference for us. You've got to have pushback ... It's the first game of the year, but it's something that we can't let linger. Some guys were just pretty tentative out there."
The Stars scored three goals within a 96-second span of the middle period and the Coyotes were staggered.
Clayton Keller, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski all hit posts with shots throughout the game to add insult to Arizona's injury.

"It's frustrating, for sure, but at the same time I don't think we deserved to win that game," Ekman-Larsson said. "We didn't play good enough and they were much hungrier than us. We knew they were going to come out hard. Then in the second, I felt like we were sitting back and it kind of got away from us a little bit."

Antti Raanta made 22 saves in the loss, Arizona's 11th in a row at American Airlines Center.

"It's the first game," Goligoski said. "They're a good team. They beat us in their home barn. We've got to move on. We've got stuff we've got to get better at and we'll work on that."
• Christian Fischer was called for kneeing Stars captain Jamie Benn at 15:20 of the first period. The hit sent Benn tumbling to the ice and ignited the home crowd.
"I just tried to hit him in his shoulder," Fischer said. "Obviously he's a skilled player and he kind of tried to make a move on me. I think it was a little bit of both parties' fault. Obviously he got the bad end of it, but in my mind I just had to stay there and he kind of made the move that made all that happen. It is what it is."
Like Tocchet, Fischer thought the Coyotes lacked needed pushback.
"We can't come out that flat there in the second and let them get three quick ones, all mistakes on our end," Fischer said. "We're going to be down a lot of times this year. We've got to find a way to push back. It doesn't have to be a goal. It could be a big hit, a big play or just shutting a line down."

• Jordan Oesterle missed a chunk of ice time in the second period after being crunched into the boards from behind by Tyler Pitlick. Oesterle, who was making his Arizona debut, returned to the game in the third period and ended up skating 14:05.
• The Coyotes out-shot the Stars 30-25. Nick Cousins led the way with six shots on goal.
• Dylan Strome won nine of 12 face-offs.
• The shutout loss was the first for the Coyotes to start a season since 1996-97, the team's first season in Arizona after moving from Winnipeg. The Hartford Whalers beat the Phoenix Coyotes 1-0 on Oct. 5, 1996.
• Country music icon George Strait dropped the ceremonial first puck.