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Jake Allen makes 38 saves, Blues beat Hitchcock-led Stars

The Blues opened the season with a 5-4 overtime win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Oct 7, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) defends the net against Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) during the first period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Allen made 38 saves and the Blues used three first-period goals to beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 on Saturday night and spoil coach Ken Hitchcock's return to St. Louis.

Carl Gunnarsson, Joel Edmundson and Jaden Schwartz each scored in a five-minute span in the first, and Vladimir Tarasenko added a power-play goal in the third.

John Klingberg and Mattias Janmark scored for Dallas. Kari Lehtonen made 17 saves.

The Blues opened the season with a 5-4 overtime win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The Stars lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Friday.

Hitchcock coached the Blues for six seasons, going 248-124-41 before being fired last February. He was hired as the Stars coach in April.

The Blues honored Hitchcock with a tribute on the videoboard during the first period. Fans gave Hitchcock a standing ovation and Hitchcock responded by tapping his chest.

Gunnarsson banked a shot off of defenseman Dan Hamhuis and past Lehtonen from behind the net with 10:10 left in the first, Gunnarsson's first goal in 62 games dating to the 2015-16 season. Edmundson then scored from the left circle after a nice pass from Alex Pietrangelo.

Schwartz scored off a nice pass from Brayden Schenn with 5:10 left in the period.

Klingberg scored a power-play goal for the Stars, assisted by Alexander Radulov 2:48 into the third period to make it 3-1.

Tarasenko scored his first this year with 11:30 remaining. Pietrangelo and Schenn assisted on Tarasenko's goal, giving them each two assists on the night.

Janmark scored, assisted by Jason Spezza, with 6:49 left.

GAME NOTES: The Stars went with Lehtonen in goal after using Ben Bishop on Friday. Bishop left that game early after being hit in the mask and cut by a shot. He went into concussion protocol, but Hitchcock said Saturday that Bishop was fine. He served as the backup to Lehtonen. ... The Blues are without F Robby Fabbri (left knee, out for season), F Alexander Steen (left hand), D Jay Bouwmeester (left ankle), F Zach Sanford (left shoulder) and F Patrik Berglund (left shoulder).

UP NEXT:

St. Louis: At New York Islanders on Monday.

Dallas: At Detroit on Tuesday.

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