Forty-seven seconds into Saturday night in Nashville, Miro Heiskanen did what the entire Stars lineup could not manage a night earlier against St. Louis: put a puck past an NHL goaltender.
After Juuse Saros froze a scramble in front, Mikko Rantanen found Heiskanen in the right circle for a blocker-side wrist shot, NHL.com reported. Wyatt Johnston picked up the secondary assist. Dallas led 1-0.
For a team that had been blanked 4-0 in its home opener Friday, the early strike was a reset - until Nashville's power play answered twice before the first intermission and never trailed again in a 2-1 Predators win at Bridgestone Arena.
Heiskanen finished with the Stars' only goal, five shots on goal and 24:35 of ice time across 26 shifts, per the NHL event summary. No other Dallas skater matched that shot volume. Thomas Harley led the club at 25:57; Rantanen logged 23:55 with the primary helper and three shots; Johnston played 22:50 with the second assist.
The night still belonged, on the Dallas ledger, to the defenseman who scored and kept generating looks after the scoreboard flipped.
A lead that lasted four minutes
Steven Stamkos tied it at 4:46 on the power play, one-timing Ryan O'Reilly's feed from the left circle for career goal No. 625, the Associated Press and NHL.com both noted, tying him with Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 17th on the NHL's all-time list.
Nils Hoglander, acquired from Vancouver in June, put Nashville ahead 2-1 at 15:49 when Jack Ahcan's point shot deflected off his skate for his first goal as a Predator. The Predators went 2-for-3 with the man advantage; Dallas was 0-for-1 after a 0-for-4 blank in the opener.
Casey DeSmith, starting the second night of a back-to-back, stopped 24 of 26 shots. Saros stopped 29 of 30. The Associated Press recap carried by ESPN framed the result simply: Stamkos and Hoglander scored in the first, Saros closed it, and Dallas fell to 0-2-0.
Volume without a second breakthrough
Dallas outshot Nashville 12-6 in the third and finished with a 30-26 edge overall, the game summary showed. Heiskanen kept firing - including multiple looks Saros handled in the middle and late periods - but the equalizer never came. Coach Glen Gulutzan told NHL.com the Stars were slow to settle Nashville's early momentum, then played better from mid-second on without finding the goal.
