PREVIEW: Blue Jackets, Stars meet again in Nationwide

For the Blue Jackets, the biggest quest at the moment remains trying to play a 60-minute game.

That’s a hard thing to do in the NHL, but the best teams are able to get closer than the worst ones. And in the middle at the moment are the Blue Jackets, who have had plenty of flashes of strong play through 12 games this season, contrasted against stretches where they’re searching for their game.

A dramatic example of that was Monday in Florida, where Columbus was overwhelmed out of the gate, strung together 40 excellent minutes to battle back and take the lead, and then couldn’t hold on in the end of a 5-4 overtime loss to the Panthers.

Afterward, Pascal Vincent acknowledged his young squad will go through moments like that throughout its building process, but the quest remains to keep moving forward.

“Well, different kinds of emotions during the game,” Vincent said afterward. “You crawl your way back into the game, and make just one mistake really? And then you're in overtime, so it's frustrating. It's disappointing for the guys because I thought we expected a storm early in the game. … We didn't manage it well, don't get me wrong, but then we got back into it. Second period was much better. We gave ourselves a chance.

“So lots of emotions tonight – good ones, not so good ones.”

The players generally felt the same way. The fact that Columbus battled back to score four straight goals and take the lead on the road against a team that made the Stanley Cup Final a year ago was a very good sign, but not being able to finish felt like another point being left on the board.

“It's a big point, but right now we want that second one for sure,” Erik Gudbranson said. “There's no doubt about it. We had some really hard times in the beginning of the game and came together as a group and came back against a good hockey team. Gotta put that away.”

The next chance to keep stringing together good minutes comes tonight against Dallas in the Jackets’ return to Nationwide Arena. Columbus will have the opportunity to answer the Stars, who beat Columbus a week ago on their home ice.

Know The Foe: Dallas Stars

Head coach: Peter DeBoer (second season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.82 (22nd) | Scoring defense: 2.55 (5th) | PP: 9.7 percent (29th) | PK: 92.5 percent (2nd)

The narrative: The Stars have had some wild swings the past few seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 bubble, failing to make the postseason a year later, falling to Johnny Gaudreau and Calgary in the first round in 2022 and then reaching the conference final last season. They’ve had a hot start this year at 7-3-1 and are thought to be among the top contenders to emerge from the Western Conference thanks to excellent balance and depth as well as strong defense.

Team leaders: Joe Pavelski simply doesn’t age, it appears, as the 39-year-old forward remains atop the Stars’ scoring chart with a 5-6-11 line. Thanks to seven points in three games recently, one of the most underrated players in the game, Roope Hintz, has a matching line as well. Jason Robertson has added two goals among his nine points, while Jamie Benn has a 3-6-9 line and 20-year-old forward adds four goals and eight points.

In net, Jake Oettinger has started eight games and still looks like one of the best young goaltenders in the game, posting a 5-2-1 record with a 2.11 GAA and .933 save percentage. He's 8-0-1 in his career against Columbus.

What's new: Dallas has largely the same squad as a season ago but did add some depth in a few places in veteran forwards Matt Duchene and Craig Smith. The Stars are riding a two-game losing skid vs. Vancouver and Boston after a 7-1-1 start.

Trending: The teams split the season series the past two years, but Dallas drew first blood in the series with a 5-3 win last Monday against the Blue Jackets in Dallas.

Former CBJ: Duchene was acquired at the deadline by the Blue Jackets for the 2019 playoff run and was a key piece of the team that beat Tampa Bay in the first round. He has a 2-3-5 line but missed the last game with an upper-body injury.

3 Stats to Know

• With 669 games played, captain Boone Jenner is five games away from tying Rick Nash for the franchise record. He has moved into third place this season in franchise annals in both goals (176) and points (337).
• With 171 career assists, Zach Werenski is two away from tying Seth Jones for most career assists by a defenseman in franchise history.
• Milestone watch: Andrew Peeke is three games away from his 200th NHL game. … Jack Roslovic is three points from 200 and three games from 400 for his NHL career (73-124-197, 397 GP). … Yegor Chinakhov is six games from 100 for his NHL career. … Gaudreau is six games from 700 for his NHL career.

Who’s Hot

Goaltender Spencer Martin has a .953 save percentage (102 saves on 107 shots) in his last three appearances. ... Dmitri Voronkov had a 2-2-4 line in his first five games through Saturday, becoming just one of three CBJ players in franchise history to have at least four points in their first five career NHL contests. He tied David Vyborny for second, one behind Werenski (five points) for the franchise record. … Jenner is 11th in the NHL in faceoff win percentage (59.1). … Kirill Marchenko has two goals and an assist in three games since re-entering the lineup last Thursday. … Roslovic has seven points in the last nine games (2-5-7). … Ivan Provorov has nine assists in the last 11 games. … Columbus ranks second in the NHL penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20, killing off 25 of 27 (92.6 percent) power-play chances over the last nine games.

This Day in CBJ History

Nov. 9, 2000: The Blue Jackets make a trade, acquiring goaltender Jean-Francois Labbe from the New York Rangers for defenseman Bert Robertsson.

Nov. 9, 2002: Columbus extends its then-franchise record home point streak to five games (4-0-0-1) with a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers at Nationwide Arena. Nash, a rookie, scores twice for his first career multigoal game, while Andrew Cassels has three assists in the victory.

Nov. 9, 2019: The Blue Jackets drop a 4-2 final at Colorado, with Werenski passing Rostislav Klesla to become the franchise’s all-time leader in goals by defenseman as he scored the 42nd tally of his CBJ career.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Alexander Texier – Cole Sillinger – Yegor Chinakhov
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov – Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Spencer Martin
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratches: Emil Bemstrom, Adam Boqvist, David Jiricek

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Patrik Laine (upper body, day to day as of Oct. 20), Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets used the same lines in practice Wednesday as Monday’s game at Florida, and no lineup changes are expected. Spencer Martin will earn the start after a strong relief effort against the Panthers.