Heika’s Take: Clunky start, miscues doom Stars in season opener against Blues

The Stars season opener was, in a word, deflating.

From a clunky start, to a mid-game goal giveaway, to a powerless power play, Dallas did a lot of things to take the air out of an otherwise charged building in a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues Friday night at American Airlines Center. In the end, it was an uncomfortable night for the fans and the players.

“In a way, it almost felt like preseason,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “The game flow fell and penalties ruined the flow.”

St. Louis was the better team to start and took a 1-0 lead just 1:34 into the contest. That put a real dent in the enthusiasm of the crowd, and then things really wavered 13 minutes into the second period when Roope Hintz clipped the skate of goalie Jake Oettinger, allowing the Blues to score into an empty net.

“I didn’t even know that I had hit him,” Hintz said. “I was going to go to the other side and then it was unlucky that I hit his skate.”

It was certainly a glitch at a time when the Stars were dominating the second period, but it shouldn’t have been such a high mountain to climb. After a five-minute major early in the third period and then a two-minute minor on Dallas, the Stars had two minutes of 4-on-4 and then followed with a nearly three-minute power play. A team that led the league in power play goals last season couldn’t generate anything, and that allowed the Blues to squeeze the game dry and add two empty-net goals for the final 4-0 tally.

“I think we had our looks there, but we have to find a way to get it in the net,” said defenseman Miro Heiskanen. “I think everything starts with the battles, winning puck battles and having the puck a little more.”

In an odd way, there were all sorts of areas that could be dissected. Dallas won 62 percent of the faceoffs, held St. Louis to 50 shot attempts and had 21 hits. So, did the tweaks to the “system” work for Dallas in Game 1?

“It’s about little things,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It’s still winning battles and getting pucks into the right area that becomes really important. Nobody has figured anybody out yet.”

Hintz said that as much as the team is working to play the system cleanly, things do change during a game.

“I think it’s not about that,” Hintz said. “I think it’s all about how we win the battles and how we stick together and I think then that’s the thing that follows that when we are competing together and that’s the biggest thing that comes from the group and then the system is how we play on top of that and think that’s a good mix.”

Hintz had a scary moment early in the third when he took a knee-to-knee hit from Blues defenseman Brandon Carlo that drew a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Hintz was down on the ice for a minute and went to the dressing room but then returned to play on the power play.

Had he not, that would have truly deflated the arena.

“I was quite concerned with the knee on knee,” Gulutzan said. “You never know with those things, so I was glad he came back.”

Now, he has to try and play on it again on Saturday. Dallas is at Nashville in a back-to-back. With a thin roster caused by a tight salary cap crunch, this dance is going to be frenetic for 84 games.

“There were miscues,” Seguin said. “That’s on us. We have to do a better job of being prepared - it’s not preseason anymore. It’s one game, and let's get ready for tomorrow.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.