DALLAS -- On Thursday night, Antti Niemi became the first goaltender to start on opening night for the Dallas Stars other than Kari Lehtonen since 2010.

And Niemi capitalized on his opportunity, stopping all 37 shots he faced and contributing two assists in a 3-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins at American Airlines Center.

"I just tried to have fun out there, and usually it's fun when you give me too many goals," Niemi, who earned his 33rd career shutout in his Dallas debut, said.

Dallas (1-0-0, 2 points) got a goal and an assist from right winger Ales Hemsky. Rookie center Mattias Janmark, who was making his NHL debut, also scored for Dallas as did left winger and captain Jamie Benn.

Janmark opened the scoring by tapping in a cross-ice pass from Hemsky 1:39 into the contest for the eventual game-winner.

Hemsky was rushing up the right side of the ice and noticed Janmark streaking toward the far post, so he sent a pass in that direction from the right faceoff circle. Janmark received it perfectly and scored with a quick flick, beating Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to his short side.

"I couldn't have had a better start at least. My first game, and to get that start, I never dreamed of that," Janmark said.

Dallas went on its first power play of the season 4:57 into the second period after Penguins center Nick Bonino hooked center Jason Spezza. And the Stars wasted little time, making it 2-0 just 45 seconds later when Hemsky beat Fleury high on his blocker side with a wrister from the right point.

"Not only scored, but skated very well," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Hemsky. "He shot the puck more. I really liked his performance."

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski picked up the primary assist on the power-play goal and Niemi was credited with the secondary helper, his second of the game.

For the game, Dallas finished 2-for-5 on the power play, a source of pride for Ruff postgame.

"We wanted to stay focused on keeping it simple, getting pucks there and trying to outnumber them around the net," Ruff said. "We battled hard to get some pucks back, which keeps the power play alive."

Niemi denied Penguins center Phil Kessel's one-timer from the left circle 2:38 into the third period, sliding over for the save to protect the far post.

Pittsburgh outshot Dallas 37-24 with defenseman Kris Letang leading the visitors with eight shots while Kessel had six.

"We had our chances tonight," Kessel said. "We had some good chances. We’ll adjust and we’ll make it work here."

Dallas had an apparent power-play goal by left winger Patrick Sharp nullified at 6:49 of the third period because of goaltender interference. Replays showed Benn had pushed Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy into Fleury, knocking him to the ice and making it impossible for him to stop Sharp's wrist shot from the right circle. Benn received a minor penalty.

With 7:21 remaining in the third, Benn made it 3-0 with a power-play goal on a redirect from the right circle on a shot by center Tyler Seguin. Dallas was on a power play after defenseman Ian Cole high-sticked Seguin seven seconds earlier.

Dallas held Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby without a shot in 22:04 of ice time.

"We got to find ways to score goals whether it’s the power play chipping in or finding ways in front," Crosby said. "It wasn’t lack of chances I didn’t think tonight."

Niemi robbed Kessel again at the far post with less than a minute remaining as the Penguins had an extra attacker.

"I thought he (Niemi) was really on his game. He didn’t leave a lot of loose rebounds there," Penguins coach Mike Johnston said.

Fleury stopped 21 of 24 shots for the Penguins. Fleury left the ice with 2:45 remaining in regulation.

NOTES: Penguins D Adam Clendening, D Tim Erixon and C Kevin Porter were scratched. ... Stars D Patrik Nemeth, D Jamie Oleksiak and C Colton Sceviour were scratched. ... Penguins RW Daniel Sprong was making his NHL debut and skated on Pittsburgh's fourth line alongside RW Bobby Farnham and C Matt Cullen. ... Stars C Mattias Janmark, who came over from Detroit in the March trade that sent RW Erik Cole to the Red Wings, made his NHL debut. Janmark centered Dallas’ fourth line alongside LW Antoine Roussel and RW Ales Hemsky, and scored his first career goal 1:39 into his debut, knocking home a pass from Hemsky. ... Penguins C Nick Bonino, Cullen, RW Phil Kessel and LW Sergei Plotnikov were making their Pittsburgh debuts. ... Before the game, Dallas honored LW Jamie Benn for winning the 2015 Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in points last season.