From Matt Duchene to Jake Oettinger to Miro Heiskanen to Wyatt Johnston, there were a lot of things to like.
DALLAS - The Stars earned a hard-fought 2-1 shootout victory over the Blues in Thursday night's season opener at American Airlines Center.
Here are a few key takeaways from the game:
A perfect start: Newcomer Matt Duchene probably couldn’t have asked for a better Stars debut.
The 32-year-old scored the shootout winner with a nifty shot past goaltender Jordan Binnington, who was nothing short of sensational with 33 saves through regulation and overtime.
Duchene’s tally came after Jason Robertson got Dallas started on the right foot with an impressive maneuver of his own, so it really was the perfect finish to an exciting affair.
“I actually changed my mind at the last second. I had something else planned on the way in,” said Duchene, when asked about his breakaway strategy versus Binnington. “I had a lot of shootout attempts last year, so you kind of expect goalies to pre-scout you a little bit. You’ve got to kind of mix it up, and I was just able to get it to go in.”
The Haliburton, ON native is somewhat of a shootout aficionado.
The numbers simply don’t lie. Duchene has converted 29 of 73 attempts over the course of his career, which translates into a 39.7 percent success rate.
You better believe that head coach Pete DeBoer will give him every opportunity to go one-on-one with netminders under similar circumstances.
“If you look at his history in shootouts, he’s unbelievable, but you also have to want to be out there, and that was a big-time goal,” insisted DeBoer. “Binnington was dialed in tonight. It was really important that Robo and Duchene scored there for us early against a goalie that looked like he wasn’t going to let anything in all night.”
Up to the task: If Binnington was a rock for the Blues, the same can be said for Jake Oettinger, who finished the contest with 23 stops.
The 24-year-old relished the head-to-head goaltending duel because it was a perfect way to get into the swing of things now that every start means valuable points in the standings are at stake.
“He’s a Stanley Cup champion, one of the best goalies in the League when he’s on, and he was phenomenal tonight,” praised Oettinger, on the subject of Binnington’s performance. “I was just trying to make big saves because I knew he was going to. It was a fun battle, and I’m sure I’ll see him again soon.”
So, when did Oettinger know that he would likely need to be almost flawless to outperform his counterpart and get the job done?
“I think when he makes his third straight split save across the crease,” said Oettinger with a smile. “You’re like ‘Yeah, you’re probably not going to get much by him tonight,’ so just every save’s huge. It was a fun game.”
For his part, Duchene is quickly developing a genuine admiration for his netminder’s skill set.
Oettinger clearly has a fan in the two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist.
“He was great. I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to outmatch the guy across from you, and Jake obviously did that. It was by a hair, but he did it. He made more saves in the shootout and you get the win,” praised Duchene. “That’s how razor thin it is in this League between winning and losing. That team competes, they play hard, and they had some looks, and Jake came up big when he needed to.”
Cleared for takeoff: Defenseman Miro Heiskanen was the most utilized player on both teams on Thursday night.
He logged 27:53 of ice time, just over seven minutes more than the next closest Stars player, which happened to be Duchene at 20:44.
DeBoer noted that Heiskanen's usage versus St. Louis was simply a byproduct of his incredible talent.
"We talked all camp about trying to limit his ice time, so we got him down to 27:53 tonight. It’s just a hard guy not to play in a tight game," indicated DeBoer. "It’s a 1-1 game or a 2-1 game, you get into the third period of those games with the game on the line, he’s going to be out there and he wants to be out there. And we’re also looking at the fact that we’ve got five days until we play again, so that’s a factor."
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The 24-year-old Finn also led the Stars with six shots on goal and three blocked shots along the way.
Honorable mention: After assisting on captain Jamie Benn's goal early in the second period, youngster Wyatt Johnston nearly added a tally in the extra stanza.
The 20-year-old Toronto native came within a few inches of tucking in a wraparound attempt past Binnington that would have sent the sold-out crowd of 18,532 fans into an absolute frenzy.
DeBoer was thrilled to see that kind of progress in Johnston's game after a notable rookie campaign.
"It's a great sign. He looks stronger, faster and more confident than a year ago, which is scary because you can see it in overtime," said DeBoer. He wanted to end the game himself. He’s 20 years old, and with that type of mindset, it’s fantastic."
The Stars will practice at Comerica Center in Frisco on Friday before departing for Palm Springs, CA where they’ll spend a few days doing some team bonding activities.
Dallas faces the Vegas Golden Knights next Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena to begin a two-game road trip that also includes a stop in Anaheim to battle the Ducks.