It’s been a while since the Dallas Stars (37-19-2) had a game like Tuesday night’s contest. The Columbus Blue Jackets (28-22-8) welcomed the Stars into their building and gave them a 6-4 beatdown that easily could have been 6-1. The Stars had some fight, so maybe “beatdown” is a bit strong, but it wasn’t a great game from the road team.
Related: Blue Jackets Jump Into Playoff Spot With Win Over Stars
There are two sides to this game, but for now, let’s just say the Blue Jackets are not the bottom-feeders they once were, who gave out “free two points.” The team has trouble keeping pucks out of their net at times – the Stars scored four goals in their worst games in months. However, they can score with the best of them, and they’ll make their opponents pay if they don’t bring their ‘A’ game.
Alright, back to the Stars. Here’s a look at the night that was.
Mavrik Bourque Keeps On Truckin’
There are a few negatives from this game, and they all stem from one thing. But we’ll save the negativity for later. For now, Mavrik Bourque was the 30th overall pick in the 2020 Draft, and there were high hopes for him coming into his first full season with the Stars. He had an incredibly slow start to the 2024-25 campaign, to the point that some wondered if management should use him to beef up the roster before the trade deadline.
In the first 31 games of the season, Bourque had two goals and seven points. In the 21 games since, he has seven goals and 12 points, including his current five-game point streak and a goal on Tuesday. He’s been moved up and down the lineup, but he’s not counted on to be a dominant producer like Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson. Still, he’s a great young talent, and what he’s contributed to the Stars recently is exactly what they need as the season chugs along. If he had 12 points every 21 games from the start of the season, that would have it at roughly a 50-point pace. Not bad for a rookie who hovers around the middle of the lineup.
Road Trips and 4 Nations Caught Up to Stars
It’s hard to dwell on the negatives from Tuesday night, considering the Stars have won nine of their last 13 games and 15 of 22 games since Jan. 1. There was some sloppy defensive play, and Jake Oettinger didn’t look great, but the Stars looked out of gas before the first 20 minutes expired.
Dallas has played eight of their last 10 games on the road and ended a six-game road trip against the Blue Jackets. Yes, it was interrupted by a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, Oettinger, Thomas Harley, and Mikael Granlund were all a part of the tournament, which means they have all been on the road since Feb. 4. The team finally returns to the American Airlines Center on Friday when they host the Los Angeles Kings.
Those five players are important to the Stars, specifically Lindell and Oettinger, and on Tuesday, it looked like all this travel and the number of games finally caught up with them. Lindell is such a good defenseman that you rarely notice him. Against Columbus, he was caught fairly often, way more than usual, and Oettinger let in some questionable goals early and often.
There are things to pick apart from this game, for sure. I say, burn the tape and move on. The Stars are a very good team, who seemed to run out of steam and played a Blue Jackets team that is desperate to make a playoff push. The latter won out on Tuesday night.
Blue Jackets are the Real Deal
Before the season started, I made two predictions that I am proud of five months later. They were on podcasts and not documented for The Hockey Writers, so it would be hard to fact-check. Just trust me. One was that the Calgary Flames would make the playoffs, and the other was that the Blue Jackets would, too. I also said that the Carolina Hurricanes would miss the playoffs – Hey, you can’t win them all.
Last season, the Blue Jackets could put up five or six goals a night with no problem, but they still ranked 24th in goals scored and keeping pucks out of their net was a nightmare. They were 31st in the NHL in goals-against and had a minus-64 goal differential. This season, they are 6th in goals scored. Last season, they had 66 points. This season, they already have 64.
Columbus has six players who have scored 17 goals or more and 10 players with more than 20 points. What might be more impressive is that only five skaters have played all 58 games this season. The team has been riddled with injuries and is still one of the most surprising teams of 2024-25.
Johnny Gaudreau and his brother’s tragic death over the summer was, and still is, heartbreaking. No one would have blamed the team if they missed the playoffs by a thousand points. However, it’s been the exact opposite. It feels like a “Do it for Johnny” type of season, and I hope it lasts.
Up Next for the Stars
It’s been a long month, not just for the Stars who played in the 4 Nations tournament, but for everybody. Friday’s game against the Kings will be their last of the month and the first of a four-game homestand. It’s also the first of six games in 10 days, so these two days without a game are exactly what the doctor ordered. As the countdown to the playoffs continues, Dallas has some important games coming up. But they are playing their best hockey, and there’s no reason to believe their loss to Columbus was anything more than an off-night.
