Repeats aren’t supposed to happen this early in the season.
In the second game of an NHL season, teams are supposed to be waving their hands around in the dark hoping to grasp an identity. Games are supposed to be uniquely entertaining because of their distinctive birthmarks. Sequels aren’t commonplace.
And yet, the Stars’ 3-2 win over Nashville on Sunday night looked and felt so much like a cousin to Friday night’s season-opening win. Like Dallas did on Friday night during a 7-0 thrashing, they needed goaltender Anton Khudobin to keep them around in the first period. Like Friday, the Stars relied on a scorching power play to score goals, this time tallying three with the man-advantage.
It was all following the script, even down to the “Do-bby” chants in the third period that filled the American Airlines Center and the goals from Joe Pavelski and Denis Gurianov.
There were wrinkles in the plot, of course.
Stars captain Jamie Benn missed Sunday’s game due to a lower-body injury suffered Friday when Viktor Arvidsson fell on his right knee. On Sunday morning, he was labeled a game-time decision, but ultimately missed his first regular-season game since 2019.
It marked the first time since Tyler Seguin was traded to the Stars in 2013 that Dallas played a game without both Benn and Seguin. Add in Blake Comeau’s absence and Joel Kiviranta’s injury, and the Stars were without a third of the key forwards from their postseason run a few months ago.
The Predators finally punctured Khudobin after he held them scoreless for the season’s first 85 minutes.
It didn’t matter.
The Stars power play made sure that Dallas began the season 2-0-0 for the second time in three seasons. Dallas went 3 for 4 on the power play, one game after going 5 for 8 on Friday night. In the last three seasons, the Stars scored at least three power-play goals in two games. They’ve done that in two games this season.
In the first period, Gurianov scored on a one-timer from the right circle on a slick feed from Pavelski behind the net. In the second period, Roope Hintz squeaked a shot through Juuse Saros, trickling home his first goal of the young season. In the third period, Pavelski hammered a one-timer from the left circle top shelf on Saros.
The trio of goals put the Stars in historical company. In NHL history, only one team scored more than nine special teams goals (eight on the power play and one shorthanded) in the season’s first two games. It was the 1995-96 Penguins that scored 10 power-play goals in two games. That team had Mario Lemieux (166 points) and Jaromir Jagr (149 points).
That’s not to say that this Stars team will be an offensive juggernaut or even rank as the league’s best power play. The unit will slow down eventually — they can’t score on 67% of their chances all the time. Dallas will have to manufacture offense at even-strength to complement its defense and goaltending.
But for now, the Stars should enjoy it.
They should enjoy the rejuvenated Pavelski that’s continued his play from the bubble. Through two games, Pavelski has seven points. Last year during his first season in Dallas, it took him 15 games to reach that mark.
They should enjoy the speedy precision in which Hintz and Gurianov are carving up the neutral zone, and bask in the offensive-zone possession time that has sometimes lacked from two of the most talented youngsters on the roster.
They should enjoy Khudobin’s snazzy play that has become so consistent that his windmill glove saves and post-to-post game-saving stops almost qualify as ho-hum. The Stars will need him to carry the load as Ben Bishop recovers from knee surgery.
Maybe the Stars can even hope they complete the trilogy.
