Dadonov gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 16:03 when Matt Duchene spun off Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang for a backhand that Dadonov tapped in at the right post.
Harley scored to make it 3-1 at 5:22 of the third on a one-timer from the high slot into an empty net after Nedeljkovic came out of his crease and failed to deal with a loose puck.
“I tend to be pretty aggressive, and it was the wrong decision,” Nedeljkovic said. “I have to just let whatever happens, happen. Behind the play, we had some back pressure coming. … We talked the last couple days about maybe playing too loose in [a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday].
“I thought tonight, overall, we did a great job of putting pucks behind them and being disciplined in that aspect. I have to do the same thing and make some better decisions.”
Johnston extended the lead to 4-1 at 13:51 when his backhand hit both the post and Nedeljkovic before just crossing the line.
“I thought in the second and the third, we got it back again, which was nice,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “Those games early in the season have gotten away from us. [Oettinger] made some saves. I thought we got our game back and played pretty well down the stretch.”
Rust put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 19:22 of the first period. Sidney Crosby banked a pass off the boards through the neutral zone to Jake Guentzel, who carried it to the left face-off circle and dragged a pass around a sliding Harley to Rust for a wrist shot in front.
“I think we let them hang around,” Crosby said. “We couldn’t build on our lead. They hung around and were opportunistic. I think with the start we had, with the chances we had, obviously it would have been nice to have a bit of a cushion.”
NOTES: Penguins defenseman John Ludvig, making his NHL debut, left at 10:41 of the second after hitting Stars forward Radek Faksa in the neutral zone. He remained down for several minutes before being helped to the locker room by teammates Marcus Pettersson and Noel Acciari. Ludvig was still being evaluated after the game, Sullivan said. Ludvig was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9. … Crosby’s assist on Rust’s goal was his 955th in the NHL, one away from tying Mark Recchi (956) for 15th in League history.