5 takeaways: Team effort leads to season-opening win in New York

The Stars opened their 2021-22 regular season with a wild 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Making his NHL debut, Jacob Peterson scored on a beautiful backhander to open the scoring for the Stars, who also received a power-play strike from Radek Faksa and an overtime winner from Miro Heiskanen. Braden Holtby got the start in goal and made 25 saves on 27 shots before leaving in the third period due to dehydration. Anton Khudobin came in and shut the door, turning aside all six shots he faced.
Adam Fox and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, who fell to 0-1-1. Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves on 26 shots.
Now that the dust has settled, here are five takeaways from the game.

THE KID IS ALL RIGHT!

As if there was any doubt Peterson would score in his NHL debut, right? Praised throughout training camp and preseason for his intelligence, confidence and poise with the puck, Peterson earned a spot on the roster and wasted no time getting on the board.
His goal came with under a minute remaining in the first period and sent Stars fans into a frenzy.
He skated on a line with Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski, usually occupied on left wing by Jason Robertson. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Peterson when Robertson returns from injury. He certainly didn't look overwhelmed in this game.

GOALIE TANDEM COMES UP HUGE

One of the biggest storylines throughout camp was the goaltending surplus in Dallas. Holtby, Khudobin and Jake Oettinger all saw time in preseason, and it wasn't until the final few exhibition games when the outlook got a little clearer.
Earning the start on Thursday, Holtby turned in a fantastic performance that included a highlight-reel glove save on Rangers forward Ryan Strome. But when the veteran netminder exited the game in the third period of a 2-2 game, Khudobin kept the Stars alive with six saves on six shots after coming in cold.
Having a tandem of Holtby and Khudobin is a tremendous luxury for the Stars, and it showed in this game.

PENALTY KILL WAS PERFECT

There are some instances when penalties are considered "good" like when it's preventing a clear-cut scoring chance. But there are others that always seem to come back to haunt you. Dallas' first two penalties were delay-of-game infractions for sending the puck over the glass. Not ideal.
The Stars' penalty killers came to the rescue going 4-for-4 on the PK. Faksa led all skaters in shorthanded ice time with 6:41, followed by Esa Lindell with 5:00, Heiskanen with 4:34 and newcomer Luke Glendening with 3:38.
Often, it's the power play that gets all the love, but teams won't have success without a strong penalty kill, too.

HEISKANEN CAN DO IT ALL

Armed with an eight-year contract worth $67.6 million, Heiskanen proved why he's worth every penny. The 22-year-old blueliner was the only player who had a multi-point night, and he led all skaters with 26:28 TOI. He added three shots, three blocked shots and one takeaway in his season debut.
With the game on the line, Heiskanen showcased his speed and scoring touch with a shot that tagged the top corner to give the Stars a 3-2 victory.

ADVERSITY STRIKES (AGAIN)

Already without Robertson and Blake Comeau before the season even started, the Stars went down to five defensemen for the final 20 minutes when John Klingberg couldn't return after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period. Then, Holtby had to exit the game late in the third period.
The Stars dug deep and found a way to come out with two points. It was a hard-fought, gritty victory.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.