The Dallas Stars will look to snap their first two-game losing streak of the season when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
After winning three straight games, the Stars were blanked 2-0 by the Vancouver Canucks and then dropped a 3-2 decision to the visiting Boston Bruins on Monday.
Dallas fell behind 2-0 against Boston and a rally fell short. Poor starts continue to be a problem, as the Stars have been outscored 11-5 in first periods and have yet to lead a game after 20 minutes.
“It’s something that we talk about and are trying to address,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “It’s been hit or miss. It’s definitely on our radar and something I know we’re capable of getting fixed.”
Wyatt Johnston and Joe Pavelski scored and Jake Oettinger made 26 saves as the Stars rallied to within 2-1 and 3-2 against the Bruins.
“I would hope the final 40 minutes would carry over,” DeBoer said. “We pushed hard and competed hard and did a lot of good stuff. That fight that we showed down the stretch, we have to carry that over onto the next road trip.”
Dallas went 0-for-3 on the power play and is 3-for-31 on the season.
The Stars played 11 forwards and seven defensemen with forwards Matt Duchene and Radek Faksa out due to injury.
Columbus has problems of its own. After rallying from a three-goal deficit to take a 4-3 lead against the Florida Panthers on Monday, the Blue Jackets allowed the tying goal in the final minute of regulation and lost 5-4 in overtime. It was their sixth loss in seven games (1-3-3).
“When they were buzzing us there in the first, we know why — we just weren’t playing,” Columbus forward Boone Jenner said. “And we just had to man up and start playing and give ourselves a chance, and when we do that, we’re a good hockey team. So obviously into the second and third, we were a lot better team.”
Alexandre Texier had a goal and an assist, and Erik Gudbranson had two assists for the Blue Jackets. Spencer Martin made 34 saves in relief of Elvis Merzlikins, who allowed three goals on 10 shots.
Columbus is one of the younger teams in the NHL but has managed to come from behind in three of its four wins.
“We’re a young team, and sometimes when you face that kind of push, they’re still trying to figure out how to manage it. It’s gonna come with time, but the desire to do well and to execute the right plays, I know it’s there,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “When we play the way we can play, we can be very dangerous, and we just have to figure out how to manage those pushes.”
Columbus forward Johnny Gaudreau was minus-2 and had four shots in 19:58 of playing time against Florida after being benched for the final 16:07 of a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Gaudreau, who had 21 goals and 53 assists in 80 games a season ago, has one goal and four assists in 12 games this season.
–Field Level Media
