Game Day Guide: Stars vs Blue Jackets

When: Tuesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Tickets: Single-game / Groups / Rentals

Local Parking: AAC Parking Options

Arena Bag Policy: Frequently Asked Questions

20% Off In Arena: Sportiqe Drake Hoodie

Food Highlight: Street Tacos

50/50 Raffle Beneficiary: Baby Booties Diaper Bank

College Night: Texas A&M University

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night for the first of two matchups this season. The two teams will face each other again on January 22 in Columbus.
• Dallas is 43-25-8 all-time vs. Columbus, with a 22-13-2 mark on home ice.
• The Stars enter Tuesday's game having seven wins in their last 10 games against the Blue Jackets (7-3-0), also earning wins in their last two games played at American Airlines Center.
• Forward Jason Robertson enters Tuesday's matchup riding a four-game point streak (2-4—6) against the Blue Jackets, dating back to October 30, 2023. Robertson has tallied 13 points (6-7—13) in 14 career games vs. Columbus.
• Defenseman Thomas Harley has four points (1-3—4) in four career games vs. Columbus, registering points in all but one game.

Players To Watch 👀

Stars forward Johnston has begun the season with a five-game point streak, totaling six points (4-2—6) in Dallas’ first five games played of the season. Entering play Monday, his five-game point streak was tied for the fourth-longest active such streak in the NHL. Johnston’s six points are the most he’s totaled through his first five games played of a season in his career. Johnston scored in each of the Stars’ first four games of the season, making him the fifth skater in franchise history to begin a season with a four-game goal streak. In his career against Columbus, Johnston has collected six points (3-3—6) in six games played, also entering Tuesday's contest riding a two-game point streak against them.

Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko became the first player in franchise history to post five goals through the team's first five games of a season, according to NHL Stats. Marchenko leads Columbus in scoring this season (5-1—6), while averaging 1.20 points per game and carrying a plus-minus rating of +4. In his career against Dallas, Marchenko has tallied five points (3-2—5) in five games, including entering Tuesday's game riding a three-game point streak against the Stars.

First Shift 🏒

Before the Stars lost seven straight (0-5-2) at the end of last season, they were the most consistent team in the NHL in avoiding losing streaks.

Up until that point, Dallas had not lost three games in a row in regulation under head coach Pete DeBoer through three seasons. And there were good reasons for that streak.

“It has definitely been a point of emphasis,” said forward Johnston. “We have talked about it a lot.”

Former Stars forward and Johnston’s landlord Joe Pavelski was a key in talking up the consistency. He was a staunch believer in never letting things get too low, and it paid off for a team that had the best regular season record over the past three seasons.

“I think even just one loss, with the team we are, we really stress, ‘Let’s get that back,’” Johnston said. “It’s you’ve got to get the next one…and if you don’t get the next one, it’s you really got to get the next one. We expect to do well. That’s who we are.”

And while new coach Glen Gulutzan wasn’t a part of that run, he concurs with the philosophy.

“We’re in the same mindset heading into tomorrow,” Gulutzan said after his team lost consecutive games to Vancouver and St. Louis. “This thing needs to stop.”

The Stars (3-2-0) have been inconsistent during the early season, and that’s one of the concerns. They started out scoring a ton of goals, but in the past two have struggled a little. Now, the hope is a three game homestand against Columbus, Los Angeles and Carolina will help set things up right.

“It is an important week,” said goalie Jake Oettinger. “I don’t think we’ve played well yet, so we need to get into that groove. They always say you play a little bit over .500 on the road and then take care of business at home, and you end up in a good place. That’s always been our plan here.”

The Stars actually have been the best road team in hockey over the past three seasons at .647 points percentage and rank seventh at home (.680), but they clearly take a lot of pride in being good at American Airlines Center.

And, yeah, they don’t want a losing streak to continue.

“You don’t want bad games to carry over or get out of hand,” Oettinger said. “If something is wrong, you want to fix it right now.”

Key Numbers 🔢

33.3 percent

Dallas ranks third in the NHL in power play success at 33.3 percent. Columbus is last on the penalty kill at 55.6 percent.

7-1

The Stars have outscored opponents, 7-1 in first periods. They have been outscored 8-3 in second periods.

20.7

Dallas ranks 22nd in hits per game at 20.7. The Stars last season ranked 31st at 15.1.

He Said It 📢

“Nils is going to be week-to-week. He’s going to go on IR with a lower body injury, so he’s going to be gone for a bit.”

-Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who suffered an injury on Thursday against Vancouver

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.