WRAP: STARS LET OPENING NIGHT GAME SLIP AWAY

Embarking upon their silver anniversary in Dallas, the Stars were upset on opening night by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. The Stars led, 1-0, midway through the third period but saw the game slip away as Vegas struck twice to send Dallas down to a 2-1 regulation defeat.

Tyler Seguin's power play deflection goal late in second period stood as the lone Dallas marker. Former Stars left winger James Neal scored both of the Vegas goals, including the game-winner with 2:14 remaining in the third period.

The Stars dominated puck possession for much of the game, attempting 75 shots and putting 46 on the Vegas net but only the Seguin deflection off a Devin Shore slap pass got past Marc-Andre Fleury. John Klingberg got the secondary assist on the Seguin goal. Fleury was selected the first star of Vegas' maiden game of its inaugural season.

Ben Bishop made his first regular season start for Dallas. He stopped all 19 shots he faced but had to leave the game for precautionary reasons at 3:58 of the third period to undergo concussion testing after being struck in the mask by a Reilly Smith shot. Although he was not concussed, Bishop was not able to return to the net.

Veteran Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen took the loss, stopping 9 of 11 shots. Neither Vegas goal was a goaltending lapse, however, as Lehtonen had little chance to stop the first goal by Neal and virtually no chance on the second.

At 10:27 of the third period, Neal tied the game at 1-1 during a delayed penalty on Dallas. With traffic swirling in front of Lehtonen, Neal's shot from high in the Dallas zone deflected off Stars forward Radek Faksa and changed direction past the Big Finn. Nate Schmidt and Luca Sbisa assisted on the first goal in Vegas team history.

Neal won the game for Vegas in spectacular at 17:16. On a odd-man rush for the Stars, Neal went down to one knee, and transferred a pass for fellow ex-Star Cody Eakin from his skate to his stick. Still on his knees, Neal then roofed the puck over Lehtonen. Jason Garrison received the secondary assist.

The Stars had chances to put a stranglehold on the game before Neal's two goals, but failed to capitalize. Dallas held a 21-8 shot edge in the second period alone. The Stars also went 1-for-4 on the power play but let a pair of third period man advantage opportunities slip away. The Stars also put themselves shorthanded seven times (going 7-for-7 on the penalty kill). Three of the penalties were taken by Antoine Roussel in the first period.

Making his Dallas Stars debut, Alexander Radulov earned second-star honors. He attempted 10 shots, putting four on net and registered three credited hits.

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MINI-PREVIEW: STARS VS. BLUES

The Stars will have an immediate chance for redemption on Saturday after letting two eminently winnable points slip from their grasp on opening night at home. The team is on the road on Saturday, taking on their Central Division rival St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

Game time is 7 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The Blues are coming off an opening night 5-4 overtime road win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. St. Louis had a seemingly comfortable 4-2 lead in the third period but saw it get away. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo rescued the victory with an overtime goal; his second tally of the game.

Brayden Schenn scored a goal in his Blues debut and later assisted on the game winner. St. Louis also received goals from Colton Parayko and Paul Stastny.

Stars lines from opening night:

14 Jamie Benn - 91 Tyler Seguin - 47 Alexander Radulov
13 Mattias Janmark - 90 Jason Spezza - 25 Brett Ritchie
17 Devin Shore - 10 Martin Hanzal - 18 Tyler Pitlick
21 Antoine Roussel - 12 Radek Faksa - 46 Gemel Smith

23 Esa Lindell -3 John Klingberg
33 Marc Methot - 5 Jamie Oleksiak
2 Dan Hamhuis - 28 Stephen Johns

30 Ben Bishop / 32 Kari Lehtonen

Scratches: Adam Cracknell (healthy), Julius Honka (healthy), Greg Pateryn (healthy).


Blues lines from opening night:

71 Vladimir Sobotka - 26 Paul Stastny - 91 Vladimir Tarasenko
17 Jaden Schwartz - 10 Brayden Schenn - 23 Dmitrij Jaskin
56 Magnus Pääjärvi - 70 Oskar Sundqvist - 32 Tage Thompson
9 Scottie Upshall - 28 Kyle Brodziak - 22 Chris Thorburn

6 Joel Edmundson - 27 Alex Pietrangelo
4 Carl Gunarsson - 55 Colton Parayko
29 Vince Dunn - 41 Robert Bortuzzo

34 Jake Allen
[40 Carter Hutton]

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