Joel Hofer turned aside all 25 shots he faced to carry the St. Louis Blues to a 4-0 shutout victory against the Dallas Stars on Friday at American Airlines Center.
Mason McTavish put the Blues ahead early, scoring his first goal of the season on a snap shot 1:34 into the first period with assists from Colton Parayko and Jimmy Snuggerud. St. Louis extended its lead in the second period when Dalibor Dvorsky scored his first goal of the season on a snap shot at 13:05, assisted by Philip Broberg and Pius Suter.
St. Louis closed out the scoring with two empty-net goals in the final minutes of regulation. Snuggerud scored unassisted with a wrist shot at 17:37 to make it 3-0. Suter added another empty-net wrist shot 15 seconds later at 17:52, with Connor McMichael and Hofer assisting on the play.
Hofer earned the win with 25 saves and added an assist on Suter's goal. Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 20 saves on 22 shots in the loss. Neither team converted with the man advantage, as St. Louis finished 0 for 4 on the power play and Dallas also went 0 for 4.
The Blues opened their regular season at 1-0-0, while Dallas fell to 0-1-0. St. Louis now holds a 1-0 record in the regular-season series between the two clubs.
Both teams play next on Tuesday, October 20. The Blues host the Winnipeg Jets, while the Stars host the Boston Bruins.
