Hungry for a victory, the Stars were not fazed by Columbus’ recent success. They couldn’t afford to be. Battling to qualify for the postseason, Dallas improved its position in the Western Conference standings with a 4-2 victory against the Blue Jackets.
Columbus’ fate was determined early in the night when it surrendered a pair of first period goals. At 1:35 of the opening frame, Jamie Benn snapped a wrist shot to the back of the net to make it 1-0. Nearly three minutes later, the Stars added another goal to take the 2-0 advantage before intermission.
In the second period, the Blue Jackets allowed another early mark. One minute into the frame, Dallas forward Stephane Robidas scored his fourth goal of the season.
Midway through the period, Columbus started to chip away at the Stars’ 3-0 lead. Dallas, which had not been penalized in the first period, took three trips to the sin bin over a span of four minutes, allowing the Blue Jackets to re-enter the game.
Vinny Prospal and Rick Nash both scored on the power play to make it 3-2 after 40 minutes of play. Derick Brassard and Fedor Tyutin had assists on both goals.
Looking to complete the comeback, Columbus maintained its pressure on the Stars in the third period. Consequently, the Blue Jackets put on an exciting finale for fans in Nationwide Arena, but the energy in the building was not enough to rattle Dallas’ goalie Kari Lehtonen.
Lehtonen, who recorded his 20th win of the season, made 26 saves in the contest.
Jamie Benn iced the game with an empty netter in the game’s final second, making him the fourth Star to register two points in the game.
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