The Blue Jackets got back to action on Saturday after a two-week break, and they knew they had to take care of business against a Chicago team that’s well out of the playoff race.
And that’s exactly what Columbus did, leading 1-0 after the first period, 3-1 after the second and then holding on to take a 5-1 victory in front of another sellout crowd in Nationwide Arena.
As far as returns go, it wasn’t necessarily the prettiest game, but the Blue Jackets got the job done.
“I think we were working,” forward Kent Johnson said. “We had the work ethic. I think we’ve had that pretty much the whole year, but I think guys can sharpen up. Everyone had some plays they felt a little rusty on, so I’m excited to keep going. It’s fun to get back out there and be with the guys.”
One reason the game against the Blackhawks was so important was that of the 26 games Columbus has on the other side of the 4 Nations break until the end of the season, only three of them will be against teams that are out of the playoff race.
Chicago was one of them, but things pick up tonight as a Dallas team third in the NHL in points percentage comes to Nationwide Arena tonight.
“If we want to get to where we want to go, we have to play better than that,” Zach Werenski said after the win over Chicago. “I think it was a little bit to be expected. After the first period, I thought we were moving well. I thought in the second, they took it to us a little bit, but that’s just part of the break. It’s important we got two points, but now we know we have to do a little better moving forward.”
One of the major storylines going into the game were the returns of captain Boone Jenner, top-line wing Kirill Marchenko and top-pair defenseman Dante Fabbro, and those players seemed to seamlessly work their way back into the lineup. Veteran wing Joseph LaBate also made his first NHL appearance since March 2017 and finished with a fight and a plus-1 rating.
Know The Foe: Dallas Stars
Head coach: Peter DeBoer (third season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.30 (T-4th) | Scoring defense: 2.51 (T-3rd) | PP: 20.6 percent (21st) | PK: 85.0 percent (2nd)
The narrative: The Stars have built a consistent winner, making the postseason in five of the last six years, winning the Central Division a season ago and earning consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final. Getting over the hump and winning the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1998 is the last hurdle to clear, and the Stars might just have the team to do it this season.
Team leaders: In the midst of a bit of a career renaissance, Matt Duchene leads the Stars with 59 points including 23 goals and 36 assists. Jason Robertson is tied for the team lead in goals with 23 and is next with 54 points, while Wyatt Johnston is one of the top young players in the league as the 21-year-old center has 17 goals and 50 points on the season. Roope Hintz adds 22 goals among his 38 points.
It also helps to have one of the top goaltenders in the league, and Jake Oettinger is second in the NHL with 27 wins while posting a 27-12-2 record, 2.37 GAA and .912 save percentage. Backup Casey DeSmith (10-6-0, 2.47, .913) has posted almost identical numbers.
What's new: Robertson (14-12-26) and Duchene (9-17-26) are tied for fourth in the NHL in points since the calendar flipped to 2025, with Robertson coming off a hat trick Sunday vs. the Islanders. The Stars were dealt a blow of adversity as top defenseman Miro Heiskanen suffered a lower-body injury just before the break that required surgery, leaving him out for an extended period of time. He joins Tyler Seguin and Nils Lundkvist on the injured list, but the Stars haven’t seemed to notice, going 8-1-1 in the last 10.
Trending: Dallas swept the two-game season series a year ago and made it a third straight win vs. Columbus with a 5-3 triumph Feb. 2.
Former CBJ: Duchene is on his fifth team but has settled in nicely in Dallas, posting 48 goals and 124 points in 137 games with the Stars the past two years.
