Casey DeSmith gave the Dallas Stars exactly what they needed on the back end, turning aside 30 shots in a 2-1 preseason win over the St. Louis Blues that pushed Dallas to 2-0.
The game had the feel of something more than an exhibition from the jump. Jack Anderson and Dylan Peterson squared off just 90 seconds into the first period, and the early scrap had the home crowd buzzing right away.
Dallas then got an early look at its top power-play unit, with Thomas Harley working the point, but Joel Hofer held firm for St. Louis.
Harley, though, didn’t wait long to leave his mark. At the 15-minute mark of the opening period, he stepped into a heavy shot from the blue line and buried it for a 1-0 Stars lead.
The Blues’ revamped power play, with Mason McTavish in the mix, couldn’t make the most of its first chance and never created a high-danger look on the opportunity.
Justin Hryckowian, entering his second full NHL season, skated on the first line with Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, giving Dallas a different look up front.
From there, the goaltenders took over early. DeSmith and Hofer both were sharp in the first period, each denying multiple grade-A chances.
Robert Thomas nearly answered for St. Louis, but the play was whistled dead before he could stuff the puck past DeSmith.
Dallas also brought some bite physically. Newly acquired Kyle Burroughs made his presence felt with a heavy hit on Jimmy Snuggerud, then followed it with a fight against Dylan Hollaway.
The Stars’ penalty kill was tested hard after Roope Hintz and Nils Lundkvist put the team down two men for more than a minute and a half. Trey Taylor and Artem Shlaine were especially effective in that stretch, helping Dallas survive a dangerous Blues push.
St. Louis went to 26-year-old Georgii Romanov in net for the third period, but the Stars’ top unit struck again.
On an odd-man rush, Dylan Hryckowian fed Rantanen, who dropped the puck back to Lundkvist for a one-timer that made it 2-0. Lundkvist, coming off an injury-shortened 2025-26 season, is trying to lock down a top-four role.
The Blues finally broke through with 4:30 left when Jonatan Berggren used a strong power move around Hintz to cut the deficit to 2-1 and end DeSmith’s shutout bid.
St. Louis pressed late, and Jim Montgomery pulled Romanov in the final minute, but Dallas closed it out.
The Stars finish the preseason with two games against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and Friday before opening the regular season against the Blues on Oct. 2.
In Other News...
Jamie Benn Still Represents Something The NHL Is About To Lose
The NHL has been moving steadily toward full visor adoption for years, and the leagues grandfather clause for players with fewer than 25 games of experience is finally close to running out of road. With Ryan Reaves retired, there are now only three holdouts left in the sport, and Jamie Benn is one of them. For Stars fans, it is one more reminder of how long Benn has been around and how many different versions of the league he has already outlasted.
Benns place on that shrinking list carries a little extra weight because the final holdouts are all on expiring contracts, which means the visorless era could disappear after this season. Whether that happens or not, the optics are hard to miss: one of Dallas longest-tenured players may soon stand as part of a fading NHL tradition, the kind of old-school detail the league is leaving behind even as the game keeps modernizing around it. [Read more 🡒]