Blue Jackets take baby steps in loss to Dallas Stars

DALLAS — It wasn’t how they’d hope to play, but the Blue Jackets took a couple strides in the right direction Thursday night against the Dallas Stars.

A momentum swing late in the second period lifted the Stars to a 3-2 victory at American Airlines Center, continuing the Jackets’ recent trend of allowing goals in short succession, but this loss wasn’t a carbon copy of their previous two defeats in Nashville and St. Louis.

Dallas finished with a whopping 37-22 edge in shots, which is much too lopsided to expect victory, but the Blue Jackets (12-9-0) showed improvement defending in their own zone and exiting from it.

“It’s definitely a lot better than last game and the game before that, so a step in the right direction,” said captain Boone Jenner, who scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season. “I thought we put in a lot of good minutes in our zone. I thought we were defending well, having five guys in there and breaking the puck out.”

The next step will be figuring out how to keep the puck in the offensive zone for longer stretches and apply more pressure to opposing goaltenders.

“There’s some push in our game,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “We’re trying to do the right things. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to correct here and it all doesn’t come at once. It’s a tight game, we were a shot away. We got a couple looks there at the end. Boone a nice tip there and we missed the net a few times, unfortunately, when we had some decent looks. But the effort was there, so that’s a good start.”

Other bright spots included towering 6-foot-6 rookie goalie Daniil Tarasov (34 saves) and forward Alexandre Texier. Tarasov stood tall in net, literally and figuratively, while Texier scored his seventh goal to put Columbus up 2-1 in the second period.

Jason Robertson led the Stars with two goals, including the winner, and Tyler Seguin scored a tying goal in the second. Jani Hakanpaa and Joe Pavelski each had two assists and goalie Jake Oettinger made 20 saves for Dallas (12-7-2), which won its sixth straight game.

“You could see the last couple games before this one was not the way we want to play,” Jenner said. “Results are one thing, but we’ve just got to look at the way we’re playing and we need to get back on track here.”

The loss was the third straight for the Blue Jackets, longest of the season, and they will try to avoid being swept on a four-game road trip Saturday against the Washington Capitals.

Dallas Stars overwhelm Blue Jackets with shots in final two periods

The Stars dominated puck possession and shots in the final two periods, outshooting the Blue Jackets 19-6 in the second period and 12-5 in the third for a two-period total of 31-11.

That’s not going to result in many victories for the team on the wrong end of those numbers, which is a common occurrence for Columbus. This was the 15th time in 21 games the Blue Jackets were outshot and the seventh time in a row.

They did a better job of simplifying passes coming out of their own zone and didn’t commit as many egregious turnovers as the previous two games, but the Jackets also didn’t possess the puck nearly enough. That’s the next step if they can stay clean on defensive-zone exits.

According to The Natural Stat Trick advanced stats site, the Stars finished with 63% of the game’s shot attempts at all strengths and had a 19-6 edge in high-danger scoring chances.

“They’re a big body team and (when) they get rolling, they do a real good job of getting to the net,” Larsen said. “You’ve got to be boxing out, you’ve got to do a real good job there, and we got chasing it a little bit there ... that’s a veteran team. They’ve got four lines with good size, they started to come and we had to weather their storm there.”

Elvis Merzlikins, Joonas Korpisalo fighting non-COVID illnesses

Thursday brought a new challenge for the Blue Jackets, who learned that both of their goalies, Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo, would miss the morning skate with non-COVID illnesses.

Neither was healthy enough to start, either, which is why Tarasov was an emergency recall from the Cleveland Monsters – flying from Cleveland to Dallas to make his NHL debut. Merzlikins, who opted to practice Wednesday during an optional on-ice workout, backed him up. It’s unclear if Tarasov will be needed in either a starting to backup capacity for the finale of the road trip Saturday in Washington.

Blue Jackets rookie Daniil Tarasov impressive in unexpected NHL debut

Tarasov got a call Thursday morning from Chris Clark, a Blue Jackets’ assistant general manager and the Monsters’ GM, informing him to get ready to make his NHL debut in Dallas.

“He say, ‘Hey buddy, you’re called up because Korpi’s out … so, get ready to play if you’re needed,’” Tarasov said. “So, I just packed my suit and went to the practice rink, grabbed my gear and went to the airport.”

The flight was just under three hours and Tarasov got to the team’s hotel around 3 p.m., just enough time to get some rest with a quick nap before heading to the arena on the team bus. He was nervous, but it dissipated quickly thanks to a quick goal by the Stars’ Jason Robertson 1:08 into the game and encouragement that followed from his new teammates.

“I had some guys helping me a lot,” said Tarasov, who texted his parents before leaving Cleveland. “Guys just said to me, ‘Hey, keep going … (keep your) head up and keep going.”

Considering the Blue Jackets’ recent troubles fumbling the puck in their own zone, Robertson’s early goal made it feel like the Jackets’ rookie netminder might be in for a long night. Instead, things settled down, Jenner tied it 1-1 and Tarasov got a chance to reset himself.

He was beaten twice in the late stages of the second on goals by Tyler Seguin and Robertson again, but the Russian rookie looked quite calm in his first official NHL action. He soaked up a lot of shots without allowing rebounds and made a number of impressive stops with the Stars buzzing around the net.

The Jackets were outshot 19-6 in the second period and 31-11 in the final two periods, but they stayed just a shot away from tying it thanks largely to their large rookie between the pipes.

“He’s not a goalie that’s flopping around, that’s for sure,” Larsen said. “He’s very in control of his game. I said it before the game, ‘If he’s nervous, he hides it really well.’ He’s just a really calm kid. I’m sure on the inside he had some butterflies. He’s not human if he didn’t. Your first game in the NHL, you’ll never forget that and he did a heck of a job tonight.”

Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner continues torrid scoring pace

Where would this team be without Jenner’s resurgence as a goal-scorer?

The captain netted his 11th goal of the season to knot it at 1-1 in the first period and shows no signs of slowing down. He’s always around the net, ready to pounce on loose change left by opposing goalies, and his goal in this game was unassisted for a reason.

Jenner blocked a shot from Denis Gurianov in the high slot, pushed it forward past Gurianov for a breakaway and then held off the Stars forward just enough to get a scoring chance out of it. Pushing the puck in front of him to keep it away from Gurianov, he caught up to it and backhanded it between goalie Jake Oettinger’s left skate and the right post.

It was a beautiful goal by a gritty two-way forward who’s on a roll to start this season. Jenner is tied with seven other players for 12th in the NHL in goals, netting as many as John Tavares (Toronto Maple Leafs), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning), Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames) and former Blue Jackets teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois (Winnipeg Jets).

Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier continues good start with seventh goal

Last season, Texier scored four goals in the first seven games and then didn’t score again. He went 42 straight games without a goal until scoring in the season-opener against the Arizona Coyotes.

His goal at 1:25 of the second period Thursday was his seventh of the season and set a career high in 16 fewer games than he scored six as a rookie two years ago. Playing right wing on a line with Sean Kuraly and Eric Robinson sparked his success after a slow start while centering the top line.

“When I feel good or when I feel confident, just my face and stuff like that … when I’m smiling, I feel good and that’s who I am,” said Texier, who scored with a wrist shot to the far side from the right wing. “I probably feel better and more confident than earlier this season.”

Blue Jackets three stars

First star

Daniil Tarasov, goalie

Tarasov woke up Thursday in Cleveland and found out he’d be making his NHL debut that night in Dallas. The Russian rookie allowed three goals and took the loss, but made a number of impressive stops among his 34 saves and looked calm in net most of the game.

Second star

Boone Jenner, center

Raise your hand if you thought Jenner would be on pace to score 42 goals after 21 games. The captain’s 11th goal tied it 1-1 in the first and helped the Jackets gain control for a stretch. He also played 21:48, won 52% of his faceoffs, blocked four shots and had four shot attempts.

Third star

Vladislav Gavrikov, defenseman

The hulking Russian blueliner put his full weight into at least a couple of Stars forwards, smashing them into the boards to break up plays in the defensive zone. He also earned his 11th assist and 13th points with a secondary helper on Texier’s goal.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets take baby steps in tough loss to Dallas Stars