COLUMBUS, Ohio _ It was happening again.
The Blue Jackets were getting stonewalled again, clinging to a one-goal lead in the third period against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena, prompting fans to chew their fingernails to the nubs.
Then, it happened. Sonny Milano on a mini-breakaway happened.
Possibly the goal of the season happened, in the sixth game, with Milano providing a two-goal cushion on his first of the season _ a between-the-legs number he sent into the top left corner of the net on the far side at 9:07 of the third period.
Stars goalie Ben Bishop had no shot to stop it, and the Blue Jackets skated to a 3-2 victory, their second in a row this season, eighth straight against the Stars and fifth straight against them at home.
"It hasn't gone in for us in a few of the first few games, but that's going to happen," said Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who opened the scoring for the Jackets in the first period with his second goal of the season. "Goals are going to start coming."
They finally did against the Stars, who got goals from Miro Heiskanen late in the first and Joe Pavelski with 2.6 seconds left in the third.
Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first, followed by Alexander Wennberg's first goal of the season to make it 2-0 with 4:59 left in the period.
Heiskanen got one back with 1:52 left in the first, making the Jackets pay for an accidental collision between Ryan Murray and Pierre-Luc Dubois in the defensive zone, but that was the final goal until Milano's highlight in the third.
In between those goals, it was more frustration for both teams.
Joonas Korpisalo made six of his 30 saves to keep the Blue Jackets in front, playing strong in net for a third straight game, while Bishop _ and some poor luck for the Jackets _ matched him at the other end.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, in particular, was especially vexed.
After drawing a penalty late in the second, the sharpshooting forward received a pass in the low slot with Bishop out of position. It looked like a sure goal, which would've provided a 3-1 lead, but the puck deflected off Heiskanen and bounced away.
Bjorkstrand tilted his head back in disbelief and glided to the corner _ a perfect visual for how the first six games of this season have largely gone for the Blue Jackets _ whose scoring chances have outpaced their actual goals by quite a bit.
"Sometimes, that's just how it goes," said Wennberg, who scored his own highlight-worthy goal after dancing through traffic. "I'm not worried about it either. We're doing good things. We're playing good, so there's no need to hit the panic button."
