Mason McTavish wasted a mere 94 seconds into his Blues debut, scoring a lightning-fast goal that put St. Louis ahead for good. It was the start of a brutal 4-0 shutout loss for the Dallas Stars on their home ice Friday night, a season opener that went sideways in a hurry. Joel Hofer was an absolute brick wall in net, stopping all 25 shots fired his way to notch his ninth career shutout. Talk about making a statement!
Stars’ Opening Night Nightmare: Streaks Snapped and Goals Denied
This wasn’t just any regular loss for Dallas; this was a complete collapse on opening night. The Stars hadn’t lost a season opener since 2019, riding a six-game winning streak that was the longest active run in the NHL. Poof, gone. And get this: they were shut out in a home opener for the first time since they even moved to Dallas before the 1993-94 season. That’s a historic kind of bad luck right there. After McTavish’s ridiculously quick goal, which was the fifth-quickest to start a season opener in Blues franchise history, Dalibor Dvorsky, who’s only 21, buried another one in the second period. He got an open look when Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger went down after getting clipped by his own teammate, Roope Hintz. Oettinger still managed 20 saves, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding before Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter sealed it with empty-netters in the final 2 1/2 minutes. Hofer, by the way, already had six shutouts in 43 starts last season, so this isn’t exactly a fluke.
Injuries Piling Up While the Blues Shine
McTavish, the dude who dropped that early bomb, was a big-time acquisition for the Blues, coming over from Anaheim in a draft-day trade back in June for two first-round picks, Nos. 15 and 29. Clearly, they knew what they were doing. But the game wasn’t all smooth sailing, even for the victorious Blues. Defenseman Brandon Carlo got a game misconduct early in the third period for a kneeing penalty that sent Dallas’ top-line center, Roope Hintz, to the ice, grabbing his left knee. Hintz, playing his first game since March 6 after tearing his hamstring in two places last season, looked pretty shaky getting helped off. Thankfully, he returned to the game a few minutes later, but that had to be a heart-stopping moment for Stars fans. And for the Blues, forward Alexey Toropchenko had to leave early in the second period with an apparent right shoulder injury after getting hit hard behind his net by Lian Bichsel and Tyler Seguin. Hopefully, that’s nothing too serious.
Both teams have to shake it off fast because they’re back on the ice Saturday. St. Louis is heading to Colorado, and Dallas is off to Nashville. Let’s see if the Stars can bounce back or if the Blues keep this insane momentum rolling!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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