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Kane, Blackhawks take season opener over Stars in shootout

Oct 10, 2014 - 6:30 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Kane netted the lone goal in the shootout to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in the season opener on Thursday.

Kane, Chicago's second shooter, showed off his slick puck-handling abilities by moving the puck from his backhand to forehand several times before roofing a backhander over Kari Lehtonen. Ales Hemsky went next for Dallas, but lost control of the puck to seal the win for the Blackhawks.

Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp both tallied a goal and an assist in regulation for Chicago, which lost to Los Angeles in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last season.

Corey Crawford stopped 32-of-34 shots in the win.

"It's their home building (and) the first game of the year," Keith said. "I think we kind of just stuck with it and got a little bit better. We were able to make some plays, kill some penalties and we capitalized on the power play late."

Trevor Daley and Cody Eakin scored for Dallas and Lehtonen made 24 saves in defeat.

Chicago tied the game at 2-2 on the power play with 8:50 to play in regulation. Jonathan Toews won a faceoff and Kane flicked the loose puck back to Keith at the blue line. Keith dished the puck to Sharp, who hammered a shot past Lehtonen from the right circle.

Jordie Benn went off for delay of game with 1:55 to play after his clearing attempt went over the glass and into the crowd. Lehtonen gloved Sharp's shot from the right circle and the Stars killed off the late penalty.

The two teams continued their high-paced, back-and-forth play into overtime, where Lehtonen and Crawford both stood their ground in net to force a shootout.

"You can't criticize the effort in that game," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said. "The effort was tremendous. I thought we basically dominated the game for the first 40 minutes."

Dallas came out firing early in the first, but Chicago weathered the storm and got on the board first after Keith's slapshot found twine with 44 seconds left in the opening stanza.

The Stars received a four-minute power play after Niklas Hjalmarsson went off for high-sticking. Hemsky sent a pass from behind the net through the legs of Keith to a wide-open Daley, who settled the bouncing puck at the right circle and slapped it past Crawford for a tied game halfway through the second.

Shortly thereafter, Shawn Horcoff broke through the neutral zone on a breakaway after receiving a long stretch pass, but Crawford denied him point blank to keep it a tied game.

Eakin gave the Stars the lead with 4:56 remaining in the second. Eakin pounced on the loose puck in the slot and fired it off the top of the crossbar and into the back of the net for a 2-1 score.

Game Notes

Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk made his NHL debut ... Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski played in his 400th career game ... Dallas forward Erik Cole was a healthy scratch ... Chicago went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Dallas went 1-for-6 ... The Stars outshot the Blackhawks, 34-26.