Stars build three-goal lead, hold off Blues 3-2

DALLAS -- Kari Lehtonen stopped 36 shots, Loui Eriksson scored short-handed, and the Dallas Stars hung on to beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Thursday night.

Lehtonen has allowed only four goals in his first three starts this season, all victories.

Brenden Morrow added a power-play goal and Adam Burish connected at even strength for Dallas (3-1).

Matt D'Agostini and Chris Stewart scored to rally St. Louis from a three-goal deficit, and Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves for the Blues (1-2) in their first road game of the season.

Lehtonen came up with a key stop with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left on Alex Pietrangelo's short-handed attempt from the right circle.

The Blues pulled Halak and had a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:04 left when Eriksson went to the penalty box for tripping.

But St. Louis' Andy McDonald was called for holding with 8.9 seconds remaining, forcing a faceoff in the Blues' zone to all but end the game.

Stewart had scored from the right point at 3:58 of the third period to make it a one-goal game.

NOTES: Lehtonen is 7-1 for his career against St. Louis. ... RW David Perron (concussion), RW B.J. Crombeen (shoulder) and D Carlo Colaiacovo (upper body) were out for the Blues. ... Grossman (hip) was back in the lineup after missing the first three games. ... Attendance was announced at 7,949, but there were only about half that many in the seats. ... Earlier Thursday the Stars activated rookie F Scott Glennie from IR and assigned him to the Texas Stars, their AHL affiliate. Glennie, Dallas' first-round pick in the 2009 draft, went on IR on Oct. 3 with an upper body injury. ... The Stars have won the last five meetings with the Blues. ... LW Eric Nystrom, acquired by Dallas in a trade with Minnesota on Wednesday, was among the Stars' scratches.