Casey DeSmith‘s 30 saves propelled the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues, bringing Dallas to 2-0 in the preseason.
Both sides brought an elevated intensity level with the shortened preseason, as Jack Anderson and Dylan Peterson dropped the gloves a minute and a half into the first period, bringing the home crowd to their feet.
TOP NEWS
The Stars’ top power-play unit got a look shortly after, with Thomas Harley running the point, but Joel Hofer stood tall. The 25-year-old defenseman will look to bounce back this season after seeing a slight dip in offensive production last year.
Harley showed off some of his goal-scoring prowess 15 minutes into the first with a blistering shot from the point to make it 1-0 for the Stars.
The Blues’ new-look power-play featuring Mason McTavish struggled in its first opportunity, failing to generate any high-danger chances.
Justin Hryckowian, who’s entering his second full season in the NHL, earned a look on the first line alongside Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen.
“He wins battles, and he has the IQ to play with those guys. You can’t just win battles and have no IQ. He has the IQ,” Head coach Glen Gulutzan said postgame of Hryckowian.
DeSmith and Hofer both looked to be in mid-season form in the first, with each netminder stopping multiple grade A looks.
Robert Thomas came milliseconds away from tying the game at one, but the play was blown dead before he put the loose puck past DeSmith.
Newly acquired Kyle Burroughs introduced himself to the Dallas faithful with a crushing hit on Jimmy Snuggerud, and a subsequent fight with Dylan Hollaway.
Penalty trouble began to mount for the Stars, with Roope Hintz and Nils Lundkvist putting Dallas at a two-man disadvantage for over a minute and a half. Defenseman Trey Taylor and forward Artem Shlaine were particularly strong on the penalty kill, fending off a dangerous Blues unit.
The Blues gave the nod to 26-year-old Georgii Romanov between the pipes for the third period.
The Stars’ top line executed a perfect tic-tac-toe play off an odd-man rush, with Dylan Hryckowian finding Rantanen before he dropped it back to Lundkvist, who made no mistake on the one-timer. Lundkvist is looking to solidify a role in the top four after an injury-shortened 2025-26 season.
Jonatan Berggren made it 2-1 off a nifty power move around Hintz, breaking DeSmith’s shutout bid with only four and a half minutes remaining.
The Blues pushed for the tie-breaker late, with head coach Jim Montgomery pulling Romanov in the final minute, but the Stars shut the door — securing the 2-1 win.
The Stars wrap up their preseason with two games against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and Friday, before opening the regular season against the Blues on Oct. 2.
