The Dallas Stars opened Week 1 of their preseason with two home games against the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and one road game against the division rival St. Louis Blues. Here’s the recap of these three preseason games.
Sunday, September 24
The Dallas Stars opened the 2023 NHL preseason with a 7-0 shutout of the Arizona Coyotes at the H-E-B Center, the home of the Stars’ affiliate, the Texas Stars. Dallas improved to 1-0, while Arizona fell to 2-3.
The Stars outshot the Coyotes 50-11. Stars goaltender Christopher Gibson was perfect with all 11 saves.
The Stars’ goals came from Logan Stankoven (2), Antonio Stranges (1), Thomas Harley (1), Curtis McKenzie (1), Scott Reedy (1), and Sam Steel (1). Stankoven and Steel stood out for the Stars, in my opinion.
The Coyotes didn’t score.
Tuesday, September 26
The Dallas Stars continued the 2023 NHL preseason with a home game against the Minnesota Wild at the American Airlines Center. Dallas remained undefeated at 2-0, while Minnesota was brought down to 1-1.
The Stars’ three-goal second period helped propel them to a 6-1 win in front of the home crowd. Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 34 saves on 35 shots and allowed only one goal.
Evgenii Dadonov (2), Mason Marchment (1), Jason Robertson (1), Tyler Seguin (1), and Joe Pavelski (1) scored the Stars’ goals. Dadonov was the Stars’ leading scorer with two points (two goals) and two shots on goal. The 34-year-old right-winger is an under-the-radar player, but he has shown reliability before and after signing a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Stars on June 27, 2023.
Saturday, September 30
The Dallas Stars edged the St. Louis Blues 4-3 during overtime in a preseason game at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri. Dallas improved to 3-0, while St. Louis fell to 2-1.
There wasn’t a Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sighting, despite a Swift-inspired tweet by the Blues. But, before the game, Stars defenseman Christian Kyrou posed for a photo with his older brother, Blues star forward Jordan Kyrou.
The Blues got on the board first, thanks to new captain Brayden Schenn, early in the first period. The Stars tied the score thanks to Matěj Blümel’s breakaway with the puck to put it in the back of the net for a 1-1 tie. Schenn, however, put the Blues up 2-1 by tipping in a shot from Matthew Kessel. Zachary Bolduc scored his first goal of the preseason for a 3-1 lead to conclude the period.
No goals were scored in the second period.
The Stars made it a one-goal game early in the third period as Kyle McDonald took a stab at the puck in front of the net. The Stars tied the game 3-3 on Matthew Seminoff’s game-tying goal.
After a 3-3 tie, the game went to overtime. Jason Robertson scored the game-winner, and the Stars won 4-3 in OT. Stars goaltender Matt Murray made four saves on seven shots and allowed three goals.
News and Notes
Stars head coach Pete DeBoer shared an injury update about Roope Hintz post-practice Wednesday. Hintz is “dealing with a little something” in his upper body. Also, Stars prospect Chase Wheatcroft suffered a fracture from a shot block, while Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood was in a third-period incident with Wild forward Pat Maroon but was fine after an evaluation.
