Cowboys & Indians; Round One

  The Dallas Stars played host to the Chicago Blackhawks in last night’s season opener for the two clubs. The two teams have been under the microscope through the offseason, entering the year with very different expectations.

  The Hawks have been tipped for another good shot at the Stanley Cup with the strong and deep roster fielded with plenty of NHL elites’, while the Dallas Stars have been consumed with the burden of bankruptcy and restructure.

  It was the later of the two clubs mentioned last night that would stand tall in front of their home faithful, as two particular players stood out to bring the Stars to a 2-1 victory over the mighty Blackhawks who won the Stanley Cup two short seasons ago.

  Kari Lehtonen was faced with stopping multiple scoring chances by the likes of Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews. He stood on his head early, and wouldn’t be beaten until the clock ticked down to 13 seconds remaining as two Chicago youngsters hooked up for a late attempt at a comeback. It was entirely too late, however, as Lehtonen led his team to a great start to the year with 37 saves on 38 shots on goal.

  Lehtonen really stood on his head in the second period as the Stars were out-shot 22-12 as the Hawks had three powerplay chances, all denied by the Finn.

"All the penalties seemed to be (against) us," Lehtonen said. "It was a tough task there, but the penalty killing unit took most of the crazy chances away. It was a great battle. I was able to see the puck well tonight."

"He had a great performance," said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan of Lehtonen. "I thought he was the difference. Kari was our backbone tonight."

  Gulutzan made his NHL coaching debut in the contest, claiming his first victory as a head coach in the National Hockey League – a huge relief for him to accomplish the task so early. He became the first coach to do so in the city of Dallas, the team that moved to Texas in 1993. The last coach to win his first game with the franchise was Glen Sonmor, who accomplished the feat while the club was still in Minnesota in 1979. Gulutzan made the jump from the Stars’ AHL affiliate to the main club this year. The Stars are now 10-2-6 in season openers since moving to Dallas.

"It's a relief," Gulutzan said. "Now I know I can win one. I thought the guys played really good. Chicago's a hard team to play against in your home opener because they're so pacey, they're well coached and they've got good skill."

  Gulutzan and Lehtonen weren’t the only big stories in Dallas last night. 22 year-old Jamie Benn, the Stars 5th round draft pick in 2007, seemed to be everywhere on the ice. His backchecking and forechecking gave him chances to shine on the offensive side of the puck as he netted the game winner at 16:02 of the second period on a controlled rebound shot. He finished the night with three shots – all of which were prime scoring chances. His huge hit on Blackhawks Niklas Hjalmarsson at 13:51 of the third period put a stamp of approval on Benn’s big night as he broke the glass cleanly, leaving Hjalmarsson at least mentally stunned for a moment.

  Benn scored 22 goals in each of his first two seasons in the NHL, and heading into his third year, he looks as though he’s making another step forward in a great career as a Dallas Star.

  Alex Goligoski, who was acquired by the Stars from Pittsburgh in February, also got on the scoreboard. He opened up the scoring 59 seconds into the second period to give his team the lead, and finished with an impressive five shots on goal.

  Chicago played well, but not well enough to win. Goaltender Corey Crawford looked on form as he stopped 31 shots on the night. The Blackhawk’s offense had plenty of scoring chances, but were unable to best the Stars’ red hot netminder.

"It's not the way we wanted to start the season, obviously," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. "I think we made too many mistakes and gave up too many chances. We've got to play with a little more energy."

"It was one of those nights where you get behind 2-0 and we couldn't get that first one until it was too late," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said.

  The night was a success for the Stars, but the heated game plays into the start of tonight’s re-match as the two clubs play again, finishing an early season back-to-back matchup. The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time as head coach Gulutzan goes for 2-0 in his NHL coaching career. If the Stars are victorious again, they will have beaten the Blackhawks five straight times.

  The game last night gave us one clear answer in lieu of tonight’s game; it should be a blast.

- Kendall Grubbs