Defenseman Kris Letang led the offensive charge with eight shots on goal, but neither Letang nor any of the other Pens could solve Dallas goaltender Antti Niemi, who improved to 5-1-1 in his career against Pittsburgh.
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The Penguins lost the special-teams battle in a big way, going 0-for-3 on the power play and giving up two goals in five shorthanded situations.
The Stars began to self-destruct as they did many times past year and were damaged for it. After jumping out to an early lead with a high-powered offense, they played “not to lose” and the Avalanche saw right through them.
Janmark opened the scoring by tapping in a cross-ice pass from Hemsky 1:39 into the contest for the eventual game-winner. Through one game, it seems to have been for naught, as the Pens were shut out 3-0 by the Stars on opening night in Dallas. “Obviously, special teams, as we know, are really important, and we gave up a lot on the penalty-kill”, center Sidney Crosby said.
Kane’s disallowed goal came 83 seconds after Sabres 18-year-old rookie star center Jack Eichel scored a power-play goal to get the sold-out crowd on its feet.
Hemsky scored at 5:42 of the second on Dallas’ first power play.
The Stars took advantage of undisciplined play by the Penguins in the latter half of the game. Replays showed Benn had pushed Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy into Fleury, knocking him to the ice and making it impossible for him to stop Sharp’s wrist shot from the right circle. Fleury stopped 19 of 22 shots for the Penguins. “Anytime you’re playing against a goaltender who’s in a zone like that, you have to get a screen”, he said. “It wasn’t lack of chances I didn’t think tonight”. On Benn’s goal, the Pittsburgh goalie not only had the Stars’ captain’s backside in his face, the puck was also re-directed with no time to react.
Not long after Ottawa successfully made the second-ever coach’s challenge, fans got their first look at 3-on-3 overtime.
Fleury had a statistically mediocre opener (21 saves on 24 shots) but could not be faulted on any of the Dallas goals.
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Phil Kessel, Sergei Plotnikov Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen and 18 year old Daniel Sprong all make their debuts in a Penguins jersey.
