– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — You’ll always remember your first, it is said, and the St. Louis Blues had a couple of noteworthy firsts on Friday night that led to their first win of the new National Hockey League season.
Mason McTavish scored his first goal in a Blues uniform while Joel Hofer made his first-ever opening night start in goal count with a shutout as the St. Louis defeated the Dallas Stars 4-0 inside American Airlines Center in the season opener for both teams.
For close to a decade, Jordan Binnington held down the No. 1 goalkeeper spot in the Gateway City, with a 2019 Stanley Cup championship and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off gold medal to burnish his credentials. However, his form last season dipped considerably as the Blues struggled all season, allowing Hofer the opportunity to claim the top spot in the pipes — a role he seized as he finished last season second in the league with six shutouts in his 43 starts.
Hofer picked up right where he left off against the potent Stars offense, stopping all 25 shots for his ninth career shutout.
“We obviously know about (Dallas’) offense,” Hofer said. “They’re obviously very dynamic and can make very good plays, but we were up to the test tonight. We were very tight on them and didn’t give them much, so kudos to our guys.”
The Blues took the lead just 94 seconds into the game, when defenseman Colton Parayko’s coast-to-coast foray on goal led to a rebound that McTavish, an offseason acquisition from the Anaheim Ducks, pounced on off the rebound off Dallas goalkeeper Jake Oettinger.
Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter each had an empty-net goal along with an assist, and Dalibor Dvorsky made it 2-0 at 13:05 of the second period after Oettinger misplayed a pick and tripped over teammate Roope Hintz while scrambling back to the goal.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
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