Columbus Blue Jackets’ postgame following victory over Dallas Stars
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason, defenseman Ivan Provorov, right wing Kirill Marchenko and center Adam Fantilli on 6-4 victory over Stars.
The next time the Blue Jackets play in Columbus, they’ll take it outside.
Saturday’s outdoor game at Ohio Stadium looms, but they played indoors Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena and dispatched the Dallas Stars, 6-4, to earn their second straight win coming out of the NHL’s winter break and split a two-game season series.
“Both games, we battled hard,” Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov said. “Over there (in Dallas), I think we deserved a little better (result), and I think today, obviously, same thing. We battled hard, played for each other and got the job done.”
Kirill Marchenko, who sustained a fractured jaw on a fluke deflection of the puck in the Jackets’ 5-3 loss Feb. 2 in Dallas, led the Blue Jackets (28-22-8) with two goals, one assist and three points. Provorov and Adam Fantilli each added two points on a goal and assist, Dmitri Voronkov finished with two points on two assists and the other goals were scored by Mathieu Olivier and James van Riemsdyk — whose redirection of Sean Kuraly’s shot/pass early in the third turned was the winner.
Mavrik Bourque pulled the Stars (37-19-2) within a goal, 5-4, with 2:09 left by scoring with a 6-on-5 advantage and Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger on the bench for an extra skater, but Fantilli sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 32 seconds remaining.
That gave the Jackets their 11th game with six-plus goals, which ties a franchise record set in the 2018-19. The only downer for Columbus was the end of Zach Werenski’s franchise-record home points streak at 22 games, which tied with Phil Housley’s streak in 1991-92 for the Buffalo Sabres as the third longest in NHL history by a defensemen. Only Paul Coffey’s 23-game streak in 1985-86 for the Edmonton Oilers and Bobby Orr’s 25-game streak for the Boston Bruins in 1974-75 were longer.
Defeating the stars also moved the Blue Jackets into the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with 64 points, two behind the Detroit Red Wings for the first wild card. The Jackets and Red Wings now play their next two games against each other, first on Thursday in Detroit and then Saturday at the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series outdoor matchup at Ohio Stadium.
“Going in there Thursday, it’s like a little preview before the outdoor game,” Provorov said. “I guess, in a way, you can count on it as a mini playoff series. Two games. Home and home. Nothing better than that.”
Elvis Merzlikins (18 saves) started in net for the Blue Jackets and improved to 21-14-4 with the win. Oettinger (23 saves) took the loss on a tough night that started with Marchenko scoring against him 30 seconds into the game.
Combined with Olivier’s goal at 4:37, the Blue Jackets had a 2-0 to work with during an impressive start. Jamie Benn cut it to 2-1 for Dallas at 9:37 of the opening period, but Columbus still went into the first intermission leading by that score with a 7-3 edge in shots.
Marchenko’s second goal of the game and team-high 23rd of the season, made it 3-1 at 1:11 of the second, which he scored after getting a pinpoint feed from Fantilli in the slot. Provorov made it 4-1 at 8:46 of the second on his seventh goal of the season and second point in the game, but Dallas scored the next two goals before the period ended.
Hintz cut it to 4-2 less than a minute after Provorov scored, Robertson pulled the Stars to within 4-3 with 6:03 left and Blue Jackets rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk was then sent to the penalty box with a double-minor for high-sticking that put Dallas on a four-minute power play with 4:06 left in the period. Killing it brought Blue Jackets fans to their feet and provided a lift for the Blue Jackets heading to the locker room.
In the third, the Blue Jackets again started fast with a quick goal from Van Riemsdyk to re-establish a two-goal lead at 5-3, which turned out to be the difference-maker.
Get more on the Columbus Blue Jackets with our Cannon Fodder podcast