Holtby, Stars defeat Penguins in shootout

PITTSBURGH --Braden Holtby made 27 saves to help the Dallas Stars defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Michael Raffl scored for the Stars (2-2-0), who will play their home opener against the Los Angeles Kings at American Airlines Center on Friday.
"This is how tough the League is. We could've got points in all four games," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "We could've gone 0-4. That's how tough the League is, that's how tight the League is. So we played well enough to get points in four games, yeah. We'll take the .500.
"That was a really good hockey game tonight. It was a hard-fought hockey game by both teams. For us to play four in six (days) and come in there and play that, that was a hard game, I was very happy with that."
Tristan Jarry made 28 saves, and John Marino scored for the Penguins (2-0-2).
"It wasn't as open of a game. I thought it was a tighter, checking game," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "Dallas defends hard. They block a lot of shots. They have good size. … We had a lot of looks, but based on the amount of offensive-zone time we had in the second period, we would've liked to have generated a little bit more. You have to give Dallas credit."
Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov each scored on a backhand in the shootout for Dallas. Jeff Carter scored in the third round for Pittsburgh to briefly extend it, but Holtby denied Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang in the first two rounds.
"Especially early on in the season, [it's good to] really test yourself and test your poise," Holtby said. "I thought we really did that. We stuck to our game plans. Obviously, there are things we want to do better, but a ton of positives to this point."
Raffl gave Dallas a 1-0 lead with 9.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Radek Faksa carried the puck into the Penguins zone and sent a cross-ice pass to Raffl, who shot glove side on a one-timer.

The goal was Raffl's second in four games after he scored four in 44 last season.
"Just opened up, hoping [Faksa] would find the lane there," Raffl said. "He made a perfect pass. I was able to get it off quick. That's all I wanted. Fortunately enough, it went in. … You know you're out there in the last minute, yes. I wasn't sure how much (time) was left."
Marino tied it 1-1 with his first goal this season at 5:26 of the second period, scoring on the rebound of a slap shot by Brock McGinn.
"Just 5-on-5 the whole time," Marino said. "Both teams were playing hard. You were able to roll all four lines, too. It was a hard game."
Denis Gurianov nearly gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 16:43 of the second. After tipping the puck into Pittsburgh's zone, Tanner Kero sent a backhand pass to the left post for a wrist shot from Gurianov, who was denied by Jarry sliding over for the pad save.
Jarry then kept it 1-1 at 10:26 of third period, again sliding over to turn away a one-timer from Jacob Peterson with the toe of his skate.
"I think both teams had some good offensive chances," Jarry said. "Just maybe capitalizing on one or two, it might've been a different game. Could've gone either way. They're a good team. They play tight defense hard. I think we saw that out there."
NOTES:The Stars had lost their previous five games to the Penguins by the combined score of 18-6. … Dallas defenseman John Klingberg missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Bowness had previously said he hoped to have Klingberg back against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday or Pittsburgh on Tuesday. … The Penguins' sellout streak ended at 633 games dating to Feb. 14, 2007. ... Pittsburgh defenseman Mike Matheson had three shots and three hits in 18:10 of ice time in his season debut after missing the first three games with a lower-body injury.