Blue Jackets defeat Stars on Seth Jones goal in OT

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets waited almost until the end of the game to tie the score but wasted little in overtime when Seth Jones scored after 46 seconds for a 3-2 victory against the slumping Dallas Stars at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.
Sam Gagner made it 2-2 with 16 seconds remaining in the third period while Columbus (4-3-1) was on the power play and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky off for and extra attacker. Rookie defenseman Zach Werenski had his second assist of the game on Gagner's third goal in two games.
Jones then used a screen by Columbus forward Alex Wennberg to score his second goal.

"We moved it around a little bit," Jones said. "Nothing seemed to be going on so I decided to shoot it on net. He had a great screen in front. I didn't even see the goalie's eyes."
Nick Foligno also scored and Bobrovsky made 36 saves for Columbus, which is 4-1-1 since losing its first two games.

Jason Spezza and Tyler Seguin scored and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for Dallas (3-4-2). The injury-plagued Stars have lost three straight but coach Lindy Ruff said there were some encouraging signs.
"It's a tough one to swallow because until that last minute I felt we played the type of game we're going to win most nights," he said.
Bobrovsky came up big with 18 saves in the scoreless first period.
Foligno made it 1-0 at 3:50 of the second, taking a pass from Werenski in the left circle, turning toward the goal and shooting to the upper right corner.
Spezza tied the game at 10:13 of the second, one second after the Stars' second power play expired. He skated unheeded into the zone and beat Bobrovsky glove-side from the top of the right circle for his third goal.
Seguin put the Stars ahead at 1:13 of the third with a bad-angle shot from low in the left circle for his fifth goal.

Goal of the game

A turnover by Jones in overtime led to a loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 25. Tuesday, he earned the extra point for the Blue Jackets by settling the puck and taking a shot through traffic that hit the post and went in.

Save of the game

Niemi made a pad save of Foligno's one-timer from the high slot to preserve a 2-1 lead with 13 minutes left. Wennberg fed Foligno from the left half wall but Niemi was square to the shooter and got his pad on the puck.

Unsung moment of the game

Foligno's persistence with puck along the right wall late in the game led to Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya taking a slashing penalty with one minute left. Gagner scored on the power play to tie the game at 2-2.

Highlight of the game

On the power play and with an extra attacker on for Bobrovsky, no Dallas player could get out to cover Gagner at the top of the right circle after he took a pass from Cam Atkinson and scored the tying goal.

They said it

"We played the game we needed to play. We just made stupid mistakes at the end. We need to play 60-plus minutes sometimes. Stupid hockey." --Stars forward Jamie Benn
"We talked about it between the second and third periods. You win and it makes a big difference come spring time in April because these are points we need." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno
"It was a good feeling to get that and a better feeling to get the win." -- Blue Jackets forward Sam Gagner on his tying goal
"When you're losing games it feels like it's impossible to win. Right now that's where we're at, but we have to stick with it and trust what we're doing." -- Stars forward Jason Spezza
"Our penalty kill has been good all year. I'd like to know a team in the League that has had more chances shorthanded than us and we can't score a damn goal." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Dallas forward Curtis McKenzie was scratched after the morning skate and replaced by Gemel Smith. … The Blue Jackets were outshot 9-0 in the first 8:16 until Gagner had a shot. … Jones led all skaters with 25:27 of ice time. … Columbus was 3-3-1 last month for its best October since 2009.

What's next

Stars: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, SNE, RDS, NHL.TV)