Stars 5, Blue Jackets 4 (OT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Dallas couldn't hold four one-goal leads against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Loui Eriksson's sprawling goal off a rebound in overtime finally allowed the Stars to nail down a 5-4 win Tuesday.
Eriksson dived across the slot with 1:57 remaining in overtime to sweep the puck past Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Brenden Morrow, Derek Roy, Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin also scored for the Stars, who have a three-game point streak. Goaltender Richard Bachman finished with 16 saves for his second win of the season.
The Stars made news earlier in the day when they traded winger Michael Ryder and a third-round pick in this summer's NHL draft to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for winger Erik Cole.
Cole is expected to debut with the Stars on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers in Dallas.
Nikita Nikitin, Derek Dorsett, Cam Atkinson and R.J. Umberger scored for the Blue Jackets, who are 2-8-1 since Jan. 28.
Columbus, already without centers Artem Anisimov (concussion) and Brandon Dubinsky (knee), lost center Derick Brassard early in the second period. He did not return.
Bobrovsky made 34 saves for the Blue Jackets, but it's the save he didn't make that will haunt him.
With 6:24 to play in the third period, Eakin took an innocent-looking wrister from atop the right circle as the Stars rushed down the ice. Bobrovsky looked befuddled, and the puck caught only part of his glove before falling between his pads and slowly crossing the goal line.
That put the Stars up 4-3, their fourth lead of the night. But they couldn't hold this one, either.
With 94 seconds to play in regulation, Umberger found open ice in the slot, took a centering feed from Nick Foligno and beat Bachman with a shot just under the crossbar, making it 4-4.
At 15:00 of the first period, Morrow put Dallas ahead 1-0 when a centering pass from Eakin bounced off his left skate and shot past Bobrovsky. But a quiet first period only belied the action to come.
The Jackets scored early in the second when Nikitin one-timed a Fedor Tyutin pass.
Nikitin's goal, at 1:21 of the second, ended a Blue Jackets goal drought at 102 minutes, 24 seconds, spanning parts of seven periods.
The Stars took the lead back at 5:28 of the second on a second-effort goal by Roy from the doorstep, jamming the puck over Bobrovsky's right pad.
Only 51 seconds later, the Blue Jackets made it 2-2. Dorsett, who led the NHL in penalty minutes last season, scored his third of the season off a Mark Letestu rebound.
Dallas went ahead 3-2 just a few minutes later. Roussel redirected a Brenden Dillon shot from the post past Bobrovsky.
The Jackets pulled even at 6:16 of the third when Atkinson scored from close range after Adrian Aucoin's shot kicked off a Stars defensemen in front of Bachman.
NOTES: Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski is out indefinitely with a broken foot, suffered on Sunday in Chicago. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Wisniewski, who missed 34 games with injury in 2011-12, could miss the rest of the season. ... Wisniewski and Jack Johnson, who is out at least another week with an injured shoulder, had been the Blue Jackets' top defensive pair. ... Cole is expected to join the Stars on Wednesday in Dallas. ... The Stars hoped goaltender Kari Lehtonen (groin) would be ready to return vs. Columbus, but he remains day-to-day.
