Dallas Stars Host Rick Bowness, Columbus Blue Jackets On Halloween Trying To End Two-Game Skid
DALLAS — The Dallas Stars close their six-game homestand Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at American Airlines Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CT, and the game streams on Prime Video.
Dallas has lost two straight, falling 5-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday and 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Stars are 7-5-1 with 15 points, 3-2-0 on the homestand, and 4-4-0 at home.
The Stars entered Thursday allowing a league-low 2.0 goals per game. They have given up 29 goals in 13 games after the two losses.
After Thursday’s game, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan pointed to what happened at even strength. Dallas went 1-for-3 on the power play and killed all 4 Montreal power plays.
“When you win the specialty teams game, which we ended up doing, but you give up four 5-on-5 goals, it’s not good enough,” Gulutzan said. “You can’t win in the League like that.”
Rick Bowness And Valeri Nichushkin Return To Dallas
Columbus is coached by Rick Bowness, who coached the Stars from 2019 to 2022 and led them to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. The Blue Jackets are 5-6-0 with 10 points, seventh in the Metropolitan Division.
Columbus lost 3-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday after winning its previous two games in overtime, 2-1 over the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 24 and 4-3 at the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 27. The Blue Jackets have scored 27 goals, 31st in the NHL.
Valeri Nichushkin entered Thursday with 1 goal, 5 assists, and 6 points in 10 games. Dallas drafted him 10th overall in 2013, and he played parts of three seasons with the Stars before spending seven seasons in Colorado. Columbus acquired him from the Avalanche on June 25 for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
Kent Johnson leads Columbus with 7 goals after scoring on the power play Thursday. Zach Werenski entered Thursday with 8 assists and averages 28:55 of ice time. Charlie Coyle assisted on Johnson’s goal and has 1 goal, 8 assists, and 9 points.
Jet Greaves made 24 saves at Carolina. Cam Talbot is 3-2-0 with a 2.83 goals-against average in 6 games. Columbus is without forward Isac Lundestrom (Achilles) and defenseman Ivan Provorov (lower body).
Dallas Stars Lineup And Injuries
Dallas will again be without defenseman Kyle Capobianco, who Gulutzan said will miss about four weeks with a lower-body injury. Esa Lindell is out with a lower-body injury, and the Stars recalled Trey Taylor from the AHL’s Texas Stars. Taylor made his NHL debut Thursday.
Radek Faksa (upper body), Matt Duchene (core surgery), and Oskar Back (finger) are also out. Sam Steel returned Thursday after missing two games.
Mikko Rantanen leads Dallas with 6 goals, 10 assists, and 16 points. Jason Robertson has 5 goals, 8 assists, and 13 points, and Wyatt Johnston has 10 points after scoring his first power-play goal of the season against Montreal.
Jake Oettinger is 6-3-1 and leads the NHL with 3 shutouts. Casey DeSmith is 1-2-0 with a 2.94 goals-against average and started Tuesday against New Jersey.
The Stars and Blue Jackets play again Thursday, Nov. 5, in Columbus. Dallas visits the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in between.
