For the first 20 minutes, it looked like Columbus might be able to take advantage of a sluggish performance from the Dallas Stars and come away with a win.
Then the Stars woke up, and the Blue Jackets couldn't do much about it. Though Columbus struck first and led 1-0 after the first period, Dallas added four goals in the second and third to win, 4-1, on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center.
Jack Roslovic opened the scoring on the Blue Jackets' first shot of the game just over seven minutes into the first period. Roslovic started the sequence with an interception in the defensive zone and quickly transitioned the puck up the ice. To create space, he passed it over to forward Mikhail Grigorenko on the wing, who sent the puck back to defenseman Michael Del Zotto in the slot. Del Zotto found Roslovic all alone on the back post, and Roslovic was able to complete the tap-in goal.
After a sluggish start to the game, producing just five shots on goal in the opening period, the Stars (16-14-12) pushed back hard on Columbus (15-21- in the second period. In the middle frame alone, Dallas outshot the Jackets 18-3, and it only took a mere 79 seconds for the Stars to flip from trailing by a goal to a one-goal lead.
Forward Denis Gurianov tied the game when he lifted a backhand shot over the outstretched glove goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. Moments later, defenseman Miro Heiskanen gave Dallas the lead as he danced around forward Oliver Bjorkstrand at the top of the faceoff circle and fired a shot that Merzlikins never saw coming.
The Stars continued to press throughout the third period, hardly allowing any offense to the Jackets as they sought to come back from the deficit. Gurianov tallied his second of the night when his shot from along the goal line bounced off Del Zotto's shin pad and into the net — a fluky goal that seems to sum up how this season has gone for Columbus.
Forward Joe Pavelski added another tally with just over four minutes to go, and that final goal put the last nail in the coffin of the Jackets' comeback hopes.
Despite the early lead, Columbus couldn't withstand the pressure from the Stars in the second and third periods and fell to its seventh loss in the last eight games.
