Blue Jackets defeat Stars for sixth straight time

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets continued their mastery of the Dallas Stars, winning 4-1 at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Columbus has defeated Dallas six straight times and 11 of the past 14 (11-2-1) since Jan. 28, 2013. The Blue Jackets have won six in a row at home in the series.
Anthony Duclair, Markus Nutivaara, Nick Foligno and Ryan Murray scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves for the Blue Jackets (8-6-1), who won for the second time in five games (2-2-1).
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
"The overall game, the determination was at a high level. That was the most important thing," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.
Jamie Benn scored, and Ben Bishop made 30 saves for the Stars (8-6-1), who lost their second straight and completed a six-game trip with a 3-2-1 record.
"Obviously it wasn't the way we wanted to end it," Stars forward Blake Comeau said. "It wasn't our best effort tonight but we get to go home. We get tomorrow off. We get a chance to regroup.
"It's a bit of a frustrating feeling the way we played tonight. We could have made it a really successful road trip."
Duclair made it 1-0 at 19:00 of the first period with a power-play goal, the Blue Jackets' first in 21 tries since 2:35 of the third period Oct. 25 at the St. Louis Blues when Duclair scored. It was also the second goal on the power play in 27 tries at home.

Duclair used a Boone Jenner screen for his sixth goal from the left circle.
The power-play goal was a welcome relief.
"You could see it," Foligno said. "It's something we know we're all capable of. It's funny how your mind can play tricks on you. It's been a tough four or five games with it. We need it to be a big part of our success, and it was tonight."
Nutivaara gave Columbus a 2-0 lead at 11:05 of the second period. The defenseman was in the right circle for a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Artemi Panarin, who got his first point in five games. Nutivaara's two goals have come in the past five games.
Foligno's fifth goal made it 3-0 at 17:14. Alex Wennberg won the puck below the line and passed to Foligno, who stepped into a shot from the left dot.

"Tonight we didn't have it," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "They were winning a lot of battles. We could have a lot of excuses but we expect more of ourselves and each other."
Benn's power-play goal at 3:55 of the third cut the lead to 3-1. He scored from low in the left circle after a pass by Miro Heiskanen. Benn has seven goals.

The Stars pulled Bishop with 5:29 left but got only two shots before Murray's first goal, into an empty net with 1:54 remaining, extended the lead to 4-1.
"The biggest difference in the game is they went through bodies," Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. "There was a price to pay every time we touched the puck. It wasn't a price to pay consistently by us."

They said it

"We didn't have the life and the emotion we needed and it caught up to us in the second and third periods." -- Stars forward Blake Comeau
"Overall, two things come to mind. One, results were pretty good for us, and the other thing is I felt we came together. We worked for each other and became a little tougher to play against." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery on the six-game trip
"We took advantage of a team that went to overtime last night and was probably a little tired. We knew we had to get the jump on them." -- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno

Need to know

Stars forward Brett Ritchie missed his second straight game because of illness. He needs one more game for 200 in his NHL career. … Stars defenseman Marc Methot (lower body) did not play for the third straight game. … Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan replaced Scott Harrington and played 12:54 after being scratched the past six games.

What's next

Stars: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the Washington Capitals on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, NBCSWA, FS-O, NHL.TV)