Heika’s Take: Stars navigate messy game, open season with win over Predators

The season opener is always a bit of a roller coaster ride for NHL teams, and that was the case for the Stars on Thursday in Nashville.

But the twists and turns turned out to be pretty fun, as the Stars held on for a 4-3 win over the Predators and continued their dominance on the road that stretches back a few seasons.

“Game 1, there’s a lot of things to work on, but this is a tough place to play in,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of Bridgestone Arena against a revamped Predators lineup. “We had complete control of the game at 4-1 and they pushed hard and I thought we played a smart road game.”

The final numbers weren’t flattering as Nashville had a 35-19 edge in shots on goal, dominated the faceoff circle at 66 percent and earned six power play opportunities. But Jake Oettinger was stellar in net, Mason Marchment was opportunistic with two goals, and Logan Stankoven got off to a great start in his quest for the Calder Trophy by registering three assists.

“We were a little sloppy, but I thought we played our game and it showed,” Marchment said.

As strange as that sounds, he’s right. Yes, there were too many turnovers and too many penalties throughout the night. But the Stars also played very smart at times and did a fine job snuffing out a Nashville man advantage that featured Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Roman Josi. Oettinger was a big part of that and had extra motivation as former Stars backup Scott Wedgewood started in place of the injured Juuse Saros.

The Stars forwards did a good job of making the right play at the right time, and seemed to also use Wedgewood as a motivating force. Stankoven did a wonderful job to set up Roope Hintz for the first goal of the game in the second period. The young forward circled behind the net and snuck a peek of Hintz open in the slot. Nineteen seconds later, Hintz dropped a pass to Jason Robertson and he ripped one home for a quick 2-0 lead.

With the retirement of Joe Pavelski, the top line is looking for new chemistry. And while Wyatt Johnston was expected to get the first shot there, he was moved to Jamie Benn’s line when center Mavrik Bourque couldn’t play. That allowed Stankoven, who was a big scorer in junior hockey and the AHL, to slip right in.

“He was probably our best forward,” DeBoer said. “I didn’t get him out there as much as I should have.”

Stankoven led the Stars in preseason scoring with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) in 5 games. He said that was a key to being prepared for Thursday.

“I think when you can dial your game in early and hit the ground running, it’s huge,” Stankoven said. “I tried to get the kinks out and now it’s go time.”

Hintz said he is excited to strike up the chemistry with either Stankoven or Johnston.

“They’re both great players, young talent,” Hintz said. “It’s a pleasure to play with those guys.”

Stankoven agreed.

“I’m really, really thankful,” he said. “Honestly, anybody can go up there and play with those guys.”

As good as the top line was, DeBoer said he thought the line of Matt Duchene with Tyler Seguin and Marchment was just as good. Duchene took a pass from Stankoven and fed Marchment in the slot for a 3-1 lead. And then Marchment fired a shot out of nowhere to make it 4-1 in the second period.

“I was just trying to get it on net,” Marchment said.

That lead looked pretty solid, but Nashville made a big push and got the score to 4-3 with just over a minute left in the third. Then Oettinger and the team shut the door. Oettinger’s .912 road save percentage last season was among the tops in the NHL. It was much better than his .898 home mark. Teammates said the big goalie is a huge reason why Dallas continues to be so good on the road.

“I know Otts loves it,” defenseman Thomas Harley said of playing the villain. “But I love going into an away barn and quieting the crowd. It’s a nice sound for sure when it’s just the boys yelling at each other.”

Dallas did that Thursday and came out with a 1-0-0 record to start the year. With back-to-back home games on Saturday and Sunday, the challenges will keep coming.

DeBoer said before Thursday’s game that the team wanted to be smart.

“If you can have some detail in your game here early in the season, you can pick up a lot of points,” he said.

If you can do it while riding a roller coaster, it’s that much more fun.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.