Stars Win Streak Ends in Final Exhibition Game

It took more than six full games for the Dallas Stars to finally taste defeat in the preseason, losing to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in overtime Thursday night.

The Stars wrapped up their 2024-25 exhibition slate, snapping their undefeated streak. It was the last chance for players like Oskar Back, Arttu Hyry, Kole Lind and Lian Bichsel to make one more impression with the coaching staff to make the NHL roster. Although they might get a few extra practices with the team before cuts are made, the next game is the first of the regular season and the points start to matter, and tough decisions have to be made.

The St Louis Blues had a stronger lineup - close to what they will look like on opening night - compared to the first time these two teams met. The Stars had a slow start to the first period, although it was fairly uneventful on both sides until the halfway mark. Alexandre Texier was called for holding against Matt Duchene, giving the Stars the first power-play of the game. Jamie Benn won a battle in the corner and got the puck to Roope Hintz. Hintz was able to get a shot off, follow up on his rebound and hammer another shot at Jordan Binnington. Binnington was able to fend off the second shot, but the puck fell right in front of Evgenii Dadonov who scored the first goal of the game. 

During the second period, the Stars defense was having a tough time fending off the quick offense from the Blues. The Stars kept getting stuck in their own zone, leaving Jake Oettinger out to dry at times. Finally the Blues were able to capitalize on the Stars mistakes and Mathieu Joseph beat Oettinger on his blocker side. 

Shortly after, Dallas found themselves stuck in their zone again and a long shot from former Stars defenseman Ryan Suter made it through a lot of traffic and into the back of the net. The Stars immediately challenged for goalie interference, and it didn't take long for the referees to determine that Joseph was in the crease, preventing Oettinger from making a play. The goal was called off and the score remained 1-1 going in to the third period.

In the third, the Blues came out hot with Philip Broberg, acquired from Edmonton via offer sheet, scoring just a minute into the period. The Stars once again had trouble getting out of their own zone for a majority of the period. Up 2-1 now, the Blues kept attacking, and some soft battles in the corner resulted in Broberg firing a shot toward the net. Oettinger was left out of place to handle the rebound and Kasperi Kapanen completed a no-look backhand that bounced off a diving Oettinger and into the net. 

The third Blues goal felt like a dagger that the Stars couldn't overcome given the last period and half of play. But rookie Logan Stankoven had something to say about that. He was camped out in front of Binnington and caught a slick pass from Nils Lunkdvist that he hammered home. Now down 3-2, the Stars spent the next ten minutes trying to find the equalizer to tie the game up. With the goalie pulled and less than a minute remaining, Stankoven struck again. It was almost an identical replay, with Stankoven standing at the doorstep as he received a threaded pass from Duchene and went bar down past Binnington. 

In overtime, Jordan Kyrou ended it less than two minutes in, giving Dallas their only loss of the preseason and starting the countdown to opening night. 

The Stars open their regular season Thursday in Nashville against the Predators. Until then, Dallas will fine tune their roster and settle on their final 23 skaters and goalies for the start of the year.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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