*Photo from TheScore*
The hot start continues in Texas. Jason Robertson had two assists, Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 5-3 victory on Monday night in Dallas.
The Stars have lost just twice in 7 games, sitting at 5-1-1 and second place in the Central Division to open the year. 5 players had two point games for the Stars, with Robertson and Jamie Benn having two assists while Dadonov, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston all had a goal and an assist.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said that "We were flying. I think it started with Duchene and Marchment's line, I think they were the best line on the ice by far. Really happy to see those guys get rewarded. They’ve been our best line the last few nights. We need them. We have such a deep team, and they just showed that tonight."
Just 27 seconds into the game, Thomas Harley got the Stars on the board, giving them a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the season. At the 4:37 mark of the first period, Dmitri Voronkov tied the game for the Blue Jackets with his first NHL goal. Damon Severson scored his first goal of the season to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead after one period.
Hintz scored the only goal of the second period, tying the game 2-2. In the 3rd period, Duchene scored 2:49 into the frame to make it a 3-2 Stars lead. Dadonov followed that with a goal to make it 4-2 before Johnston scored on an empty net to make it 5-2. Sean Kuraly scored for Columbus to make it a 5-3 final score.
Duchene said of his goal that "The first one’s always the hardest one to get in the season. Pretty sure I showed you guys that. It was probably the luckiest and least dangerous play of the game that ended up in the net. It’s kind of funny how that went tonight."
Getting the start in net for the Stars was Oettinger, who picked up the win to improve his record to 4-0-1 in 5 starts. Oettinger stopped 22 of the 25 shots he was tested with by Columbus, good for a .880 save percentage.
Starting in net for the Blue Jackets opposite Oettinger was Elvis Merzlikins, who now has a 2-2-2 record in 6 games this season. Merzlikins made 28 saves out of the 32 shots on goal the Stars sent at him, posting a .875 save percentage.
Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier said that "We’re definitely getting our chances, that’s for sure, the last few games. At some point, we might go through a phase where they’re all going to go in. At some point, it might be evened out, but right now they’re just not going in as much as we’d like. It comes through phases throughout the year, but it’s up to us to find our way out of it."
The Stars hit the road to face the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night, with Oettinger the expected starter. The Blue Jackets host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, with Merzlikins projected to start.
Comments
Post a Comment