DALLAS — Four minutes before Dallas opened its season by throttling the Predators, 7-0, on Friday night, the Stars congregated on their bench and looked skyward.
Anton Khudobin, mask flipped to his forehead, abandoned his crease to peer up. Players on the bench turned to the video board to relive their run to the Stanley Cup Final in September. Slowly, a black shade lifted to reveal the new Western Conference Champions banner earned in Edmonton, and displayed directly above Khudobin’s vacant net.
On the blue line across from the Stars bench stood captain Jamie Benn, by himself, stick on the ice with his hands perched atop it in front of his face. He hardly stuck a glance towards the shiny white banner now a part of the American Airlines Center architecture. Earlier in the day, Benn said he hadn’t even thought about the banner raising in the evening.“We’re just focused on this game here,” Benn said Friday morning. “Like I said, we’re excited to get this thing going again, and looking forward to tonight.”
If any of his teammates showed any sign of a Cup Final hangover, it was apparently gone by the second period. Dallas pounded and chased Nashville goalie Juuse Saros for five goals in the middle frame, three coming on the power play as the Stars rode strong performances from Joe Pavelski, Alexander Radulov and Khudobin to pick up their first win of the season after a COVID-19 outbreak delayed its start.
Pavelski scored two goals and added two assists, Radulov scored two goals plus an assist, while Khudobin made 34 saves in a shutout. John Klingberg also had a three-assist night.
Benn did not play in the third period after suffering a lower-body injury in the second period when Viktor Arvidsson fell on his right knee, a cloud over an otherwise perfect start to the 2020-21 season.
The Stars power play sizzled on Friday night, going 5 for 8 to wake the team after a sloppy first period fitting for a team a week behind the rest of the league.
Less than three minutes into the second, Dallas capitalized on a 5-on-3 opportunity with Pavelski’s first, then 86 seconds later when Radulov tipped a puck between his legs. Denis Gurianov deflected home a Klingberg shot, and, in the third period, Pavelski redirected a Hintz pass with his skate.
Lost somewhere in the onslaught was Radulov’s second of the night, when an aggressive forecheck forced Saros into a turnover, then Radulov batted a floating puck past him. It was Radulov at his best: puck hunting, then displaying skill around the net.
Esa Lindell scored a short-handed goal, speeding past Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi, then beating Saros low, a welcome if unexpected offensive display for the defensive defenseman. Playoff hero Joel Kiviranta even got in on the act.
The game was a celebration of the franchise’s best season in two decades, and also the beginning of the rest of the Stars lives.
This year, there is no Tyler Seguin until April due to hip surgery. There is no Ben Bishop until March due to knee surgery. Ty Dellandrea and Jason Robertson were among the forwards dressed. The core remains the same as the season prior, but the roster’s edges wear different faces.
For the first time in his career, Khudobin started an opening night game. The 34-year-old veteran was a backup for much of his career, and shined bright during the playoffs. On Friday morning, Khudobin said there was no difference for him entering with the No. 1 tag.
“Just get ready and try to stop the pucks,” Khudobin said.
As the Stars sliced through the Nashville defense, Khudobin kept the Predators at bay by making his typically acrobatic saves, and the American Airlines Center crowd broke into muffled versions of “Do-bby, Do-bby” chants.
Khudobin will have to be of the team’s best players again this season, if he wants to look skyward next season towards a slightly differently worded banner.
“Maybe we’re not champions last year, but at the same time, it still gives us a little bit more emotions, I would say, just because you’re still champions of the conference,” Khudobin said. “It’s going to be a little bit more emotions. It goes under your belt. It goes in your history of hockey. It goes to your museum at home. It’s pretty special. I think it’s going to be interesting.”
