Blues 4, Stars 3
DALLAS -- David Perron contributed two goals and one assist, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday.
Both of Perron goals came in the second period, when the Blues exploded for three unanswered after trailing 2-1 at the first intermission.
Perron's first of the night and the season came after he skated around several Dallas players and drained a wrister midway through the period. After assisting on Chris Stewart's goal that put St. Louis ahead to stay at 3-2, Perron scored again with 16 seconds left in the period after Blues rookie Vladimir Tarasenko intercepted a wayward pass from Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley.
St. Louis (4-1-0) took an early lead when Wade Redden connected on a 62-foot slap shot 5:31 into the game, his first goal as a member of the Blues. However, Dallas' Tomas Vincour, making his season debut, tied it at 1-1 just 26 seconds later with his first of the season.
The Stars (2-2-1) took their first lead at 2-1 when Michael Ryder scored on the power play, the 200th of his career, at 12:40 of the first period.
After trailing 4-2 at the second intermission, Dallas made it a one-goal game again just 2:24 into the third period when Ryan Garbutt netted his first of the year after a pass from Stars captain Brenden Morrow from behind the St. Louis net.
Dallas rookie goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp allowed four goals on 29 shots before leaving the ice with an undisclosed injury. Kari Lehtonen took over with 7:41 left in the final period, and he stopped all three shots he faced.
Ray Whitney had a chance to force overtime with 1:03 left for Dallas, but his 12-foot wrister glanced off the crossbar.
St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped 20 of 23 shots to earn the win.
NOTES: Dallas was without two-thirds of its top line as center Derek Roy (groin) and right wing Jaromir Jagr (back) were both out with injuries. ... Redden not only scored his first goal as a member of the Blues in the opening period, but it was his first NHL goal since March 18, 2010, when he scored against the Blues for the New York Rangers. ... Dallas defenseman Aaron Rome, signed in the offseason after spending the last few seasons with the Canucks, made his Stars debut and was paired with Daley. Rome had missed Dallas' first four games with a groin injury.
