The puck dropped on the Dallas Stars’ 2024 preseason schedule on Saturday night with a matchup vs. the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center.
And in their return to the ice, the Stars edged out the Blues with a 2-1 victory to start the season on the right foot.
After a scoreless first period, the Stars got a goal from defenseman Kyle Capobianco, then a third-period goal from Colin Blackwell gave Dallas a two-goal lead. St. Louis’ Kasperi Kapanen scored with a little over five minutes left in the game, but the Blues were unable to find the equalizer.
“St. Louis came and played a really hard, physical game,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said. “We haven’t had a physical scrimmage like that in camp. I think we’ve had good pace to our camp, but we haven’t had that physicality. We got a big dose of it tonight. I thought a lot of guys had really good games.”
Casey DeSmith, expected to be the Stars’ backup goalie in the upcoming season, started in net and played the first 40 minutes, holding the Blues scoreless. Free agent signing Magnus Hellberg played the final period.
“It’s important to build off preseason, and it means something getting back into a real game,” DeSmith said postgame. “Having a great team in front of me and working on the breakouts and stuff like that, the little details.”
Stars’ 20-year-old defenseman Lian Bichsel had an assist in the game. Logan Stankoven had nine shots on goal.
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger, among others, were all listed as healthy scratches.
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