Stars control Coyotes 3-0 in Montgomery's NHL coaching debut
DALLAS (AP) - Devin Shore, Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg scored less than two minutes apart in the second period and the Dallas Stars made Jim Montgomery a winner in his NHL coaching debut, beating the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 on Thursday night.
Ben Bishop stopped all 30 shots for his first season-opening shutout and the 25th of his career. Bishop has a four-game winning streak on opening night.
Shore broke a scoreless tie by putting in a rebound as he was going to his knees. Radulov beat backtracking former Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski one-on-one in a battle for the puck as they skated up the ice and slipped it between Antii Raanta's pads 27 seconds later.
A little more than a minute after that, Klingberg skated alone up the right side in 4-on-4 and beat Raanta inside the far post.
Defenseman Connor Carrick, acquired in a trade with Toronto three days before the opener, assisted on the first two goals.
Jamie Benn also had two assists in the Stars' eighth straight win over the Coyotes - all in regulation by a combined score of 30-13. It was Dallas' 11th consecutive home win over Arizona, a streak dating to February 2012.
The Coyotes - who opened last season with 10 straight losses, nine in regulation - hit the post twice when the game was scoreless. Clayton Keller did it in the first period, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the second less than a minute before Shore's goal.
Montgomery, who played his final game with Dallas in 2002, was making his debut less than two years after winning an NCAA championship at Denver. He is one of three current NHL coaches who made the jump from college.
General manager Jim Nill chose Montgomery as the club's third coach in three seasons after one year under Ken Hitchcock, who led the Stars to their only Stanley Cup title in 1999 but missed the playoffs in his return 15 years after he was fired.
Missing several injured forwards they figure to count on for scoring, the Coyotes outshot the Stars 30-25 but didn't generate many good chances.
Bishop finished a season-opening shutout after getting injured when he was working on one in his Dallas debut last season. He had stopped all 19 shots for a 1-0 lead over Vegas when Bishop took a puck to the mask early in the third period and left the game. The Golden Knights rallied for a 2-1 win.
NOTES: Stars D Stephen Jones started the season on injured reserve. He was dealing with headaches during the preseason. He says they might be related to concussions sustained last season. ... Coyotes D Jordan Oesterle went to the locker room in the second period after a hard check from Tyler Pitlick but returned to the game. ... Stars F Tyler Seguin was scoreless in his first game since signing a $78.8 million, eight-year contract extension.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Home opener Saturday against Anaheim.
Stars: Second of four straight home games to start season Saturday against Winnipeg.
