The Stars haven’t found a way to stop the bleeding in games or over stretches of games in this young season.
A two-game losing streak reached three games Tuesday night, as the Stars fell 5-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at American Airlines Center.
Dallas played maybe its worst period of the season to start Tuesday’s game. The Stars looked slow, turned it over far too many times and allowed the Blue Jackets to simply outplay them through the first 20 minutes.
Columbus took a 2-0 lead and held a 14-5 shot advantage at the first intermission. Adam Fantilli gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead just 4:33 into the game on a wrist shot that beat Jake Oettinger on the short side.
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Late in the period on the power play, Boone Jenner was left wide open in the crease and deflected a shot past Oettinger. It appeared there may have been a kicking motion, but no official review took place, and the goal stood.
“It was a tough period,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Too many turnovers, too many line rushes against, and some of the simple stuff didn’t get done. Then, you’re chasing the game.”
Tuesday night hockey in Dallas! Photos from Stars-Blue Jackets
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The Stars improved in the second period, outshooting the Blue Jackets 13-6. They also won the period 1-0 after a shift in the lines sparked a goal.
Colin Blackwell and Tyler Seguin broke free for a 2-on-1, and while they didn’t score then, Seguin deflected Blackwell’s shot later in the shift to put Dallas on the board. Linemate Adam Erne had the secondary assist, his first point as a Star.
But early in the third period, Columbus defenseman Denton Mateychuck trailed the play and scored from the high slot. The Blue Jackets made it a three-goal game after Blackwell took a penalty for holding the stick, and Dmitri Voronkov scored Columbus’ second power-play goal of the night.
Columbus went 2 for 2 on the power play. Dallas went 0 for 2.
Columbus added an empty-netter with three minutes to play.
Oettinger finished with 24 saves, while Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins had 22.
After winning their first three games, the Stars have now dropped three straight, all in regulation. Dallas only lost three consecutive regular-season matchups in regulation once during Pete DeBoer’s time in Dallas — which was during its seven-game losing streak to end last regular season. They’ve now done so in Glen Gulutzan’s first month back in Dallas.
“I think the growth curve is coming, but certainly we need to get there, and we’re going through a little adversity to figure it out,” Gulutzan said.
The Stars continue their homestand Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
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