Jordan Kyrou, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter scored as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Dallas Stars 3-1 on Saturday night.
After getting outscored 13-3 while losing their first two home games, the Blues tightened up their defensive play and allowed the Stars to put just 19 shots on goal.
Jordan Binnington made 18 saves to earn the victory.
Mikko Rantanen scored, and goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped 19 of 21 shots for the Stars.
The Blues mustered just one shot in the first 10 minutes before Robert Thomas got a short-handed opportunity.
The Stars threatened with a pair of odd-man rushes, with Jason Robertson testing Binnington near the right post off a three-on-two rush and Nathan Bastian getting an opportunity on left wing off a two-on-one rush.
With five minutes left in the first period, Oettinger thwarted Mathieu Joseph’s breakaway bid to keep the game scoreless.
Each team had a power-play opportunity during the first 20 minutes, but neither team put a shot on goal with the advantage.
Kyrou put the Blues up 1-0 at the 2:27 mark of the second period by cutting into the slot with a backhand-to-forehand move and snapping a shot past Oettinger.
After Binnington made big saves on Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston, St. Louis increased its lead to 2-0. Pavel Buchnevich shot from the slot, then Snuggerud drove the net for the rebound conversion with 6:08 left in the period.
The Stars stepped up their pressure in the third period, with Johnston earning scoring opportunities attacking off the right wing while cutting against the grain in front of the net.
Dallas cut its deficit to 2-1 with 2:18 left as Rantanen redirected Johnston’s cross-crease pass into the net with his skate.
After Dallas pulled Oettinger for an extra attacker, Suter’s empty-net goal with 61 seconds remaining iced the game.
–Field Level Media
