PREVIEW: Blue Jackets welcome Dallas to Nationwide Arena

BLUE JACKETS (3-2-0) vs. STARS (3-2-0)

In all, the Jackets are 5 for 15 on the power play this year, a 33.3-percent success rate that places tied for fifth in the NHL.
"We want to be a difference maker, obviously," said captain Boone Jenner, who already has three power-play goals on the season to tie for first in the NHL with four other players, including Connor McDavid. "We've talked a lot, and in big moments in the game, we want to be here for us to get back into the game."
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A number of the goals the Jackets have scored on the power play have been crucial ones already as well, including a marker that tied the game late in the second period of Thursdays win vs. the Islanders and tallies against Detroit and Carolina that have pulled the team within one.
"That's what you want from the power play," said Jakub Voracek, who has assists on four of the five power-play goals. "We work on it a lot. We talk about it a lot, and we have to get better at it as well."
And in fact, if there is a defining quality of the unit -- which features Jenner, Voracek, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstrand on the top group -- to this point as well, it's their agreed-upon wish to continue to do even better.
Things certainly have improved this year in the early going -- Columbus placed in the bottom seven in the league in power-play percentage each of the past four seasons -- but the Blue Jackets have rued the opportunities where they haven't been able to score and want to keep getting better.
"Continuity is such a big thing," head coach Brad Larsen said. "You guys are smart enough to look at the best power plays in the league and you can probably name them team by team. We hope to be in that same conversation here over time."

Know the Foe

The Blue Jackets and Stars are quite familiar after a season ago, as the teams played eight times as Central Division foes. But with the divisions back to normal, Dallas has returned to the Western Conference and boasts the same record as the Jackets through five games.
The Stars have played a passel of low-scoring, close games thus far, with no team reaching four goals in a game thus far this year. Dallas has won two straight, posting a 2-1 shootout victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday before Friday night's 3-2 overtime victory over Los Angeles. In all, the Stars have scored 10 goals thus far and allowed 11, and all three victories have gone to overtime.
There haven't been a ton of changes in Dallas this season, though the team has brought in forwards Michael Raffl and Luke Glendening along with defensemen Ryan Suter and Jani Hakanpaa as well as goalie Braden Holtby. Gone from last year are forwards Jason Dickinson (traded to Vancouver) and Andrew Cogliano (signed by San Jose) and defensemen Jamie Oleksiak (claimed by Seattle in the expansion draft) and Mark Pysyk (signed by Buffalo).
Young defenseman Miro Heiskanen, recently inked to a long-term extension, is off to a great start with a 2-4-6 line in five games, while Radek Faksa is next with a goal and three assists. Raffl has scored twice and added an assist in the start to his Dallas career, while veteran Joe Pavelski has a 1-1-2 line along with Tyler Seguin, who has returned after missing most of last season with a hip injury.
Standout defenseman John Klingberg is expected back after dealing with a lower-body injury, but forward Jason Robertson and former CBJ forward Blake Comeau are yet to play because of injury.
The Stars have a glut of options in net, as Holtby joins veteran Anton Khudobin, youngster Jake Oettinger and Ben Bishop, who also missed last year with a knee injury. Holtby has started four games and is 2-1-0 with a 1.78 GAA and .950 save percentage, while Khudobin is at 1-1-0/2.49/.909.