The Dallas Stars could not beat Jet Greaves in a frustrating 1-0 shutout loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Stars lines

• Steel – Duchene – Johnston
• Robertson – Hintz – Bourque
• Bäck – Hryckowian – Benn
• Blackwell – Faksa – Bastian

• Lindell – Heiskanen
• Harley – Lundkvist
• Lyubushkin – Petrovic  

• DeSmith
• Oettinger

Scratches: Mikko Rantanen (Illness), Adam Erne, Kyle Capobianco

Top story

They got goalie’d.

The Stars have not been goalie’d in a while. In case you are new here… Whether it was a real thing or fans jumping on it when it felt right, the Stars often found ways to lose games they looked like they deserved to win.

Tonight, they did that a bit once again. Out-chancing Columbus, dominating the third period, and really looking like the better team for long stretches to no avail. I don’t know if I used that word right. But who cares?

But the Stars also didn’t help themselves. They hit a few pipes on glorious chances, they missed wide on a couple of mini breakaways, and most importantly, they didn’t elevate the puck. Greaves is a smaller goalie at only six feet. So, naturally, the best place to beat him is up high. Dallas pretty much missed or hit the pipe when they did try to elevate. Otherwise, they jammed each and every puck right into the pads along the ice. That’s not going to work, and it didn’t.

One loss because of some lacking offense and good goalie play is not a big deal. The reason it’s more of a bummer is because Dallas was really hoping to stack performances together. And after the Boston win, this one did not do that at all.

Live game notebook

Period 1

• A LOT of victory green at Nationwide Arena tonight.
• Welcome back to the NHL, Rick Bowness! What a guy he is, and what an impact he had on the Stars during his time here.
• Also, welcome back to the lineup, Mason Marchment! Good to see Marchment having a lot of success with Columbus after he was really not a fit in Seattle.

• Casey DeSmith has been solid, as Columbus has been the better team early.
• The line of Oskar Bäck, Justin Hryckowian, and Jamie Benn created a couple chances, with Bäck nearly scoring backdoor.
• Zach Werenski is the only defenseman who can really push Cale Makar for the Norris Trophy. His quick wrist shots are a big reason why, and he used it to put CBJ up 1-0.

• Another good save by DeSmith after the Dallas PK allowed a high-danger chance.
• Jason Robertson drilled the right post behind Greaves after a nice pass by Roope Hintz.
• Sam Steel got stopped by Greaves on a side-to-side pass through the slot after a bad turnover by the Jackets.
• Dallas is stuck on four shots through 18 minutes. Not quite the same as the other night against Boston.
• Mathieu Olivier is a tough dude. Not just as one of the best fighters I have ever seen, but also between the whistles. He first knocked down Esa Lindell during a battle, then rocked Matt Duchene against the wall, and all before he blocked a shot during a late Dallas rush.
• Columbus is the only reason Dallas has any chances in the game. Their turnovers have fed the Stars rush attack. This time it was Wyatt Johnston who nearly tied the game on a 2-on-1 with Duchene from their own blue line.

Blue Jackets 1, Stars 0

Period 2

• Duchene gets a bit jammed in tight on a PP chance all alone.
• Johnston made a nifty move down the left wing and just barely missed on the glove side of Greaves. The deke was an inside-out on Damon Severson, who was well known by fans in New Jersey for plays like this.
• This first seven minutes of the second period have been quite open with not a lot of defense.
• I am not sure if there is anything real to this, but Robertson looks much faster this year. Especially lately, I have noticed his foot speed, specifically when separating himself from defenders either coming out of his own end or through neutral ice… Turns out, he actually is faster, not just me…

• Hryckowian got another chance in tight, but no one has been able to elevate enough to beat Greaves.
• Nathan Bastian is playing in his 300th NHL game tonight.

• Johnston has been all over it. This time, he collected a loose puck in the slot and everyone, including Greaves, thought it was 1-1. Not to be.
• A great passing sequence up the ice from Benn and Hryckowian is all for not, as Benn tried to make an extra move to the slot instead of shooting the puck. Tsk, tsk.

Blue Jackets 1, Stars 0

Period 3

• Despite just getting over 20 shots, Dallas has had a ton of scoring chances. Mavrik Bourque has been at the center of a few of them, again getting stopped by Greaves on a mini breakaway.
• Are the Stars getting goalie’d?

• Oof, Robertson got away with a really sloppy turnover, blindly throwing a backhand up the middle of the ice at the Dallas blue line. A good save by DeSmith made that moot, at least on the scoreboard.
• Stars coach Glen Gulutzan moved Robertson up with Duchene and Johnston for a shift. It didn’t work out too well.
• Greaves has been great on shots along the ice all season. He is a smaller goalie. Dallas needs to elevate pucks to get one by him tonight.
• Gulutzan pulled DeSmith with over three minutes to go down one goal. That’s pretty telling of the night their offense has had.
• 6-on-5 had Heiskanen, Johnston, Robertson, Hryckowian, and Sam Steel. Hryckowian came very close, just chipping a shot off the crossbar after a nice pas through the slot. Benn and Duchene then replaced Steel and Hryckowian.
• Nothing doing.

Did they deserve to win? You tell me.

Credit: HockeyViz

Final: Blue Jackets 1, Stars 0