While the Dallas Stars decided to stand pat at the trade deadline earlier this week, the Columbus Blue Jackets seem to have waived the white flag on the season. More on that in a minute, though.
So it appears that the Dallas Stars have forgotten how to win a game past the 60 minute mark. The record past regulation is baffling this year. After Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Florida Panthers, the Stars now have 12 losses that have come past regulation. On one side, you realize Dallas has 12 points for getting past regulation.
On the other side, you realize the Stars have left 12 additional points out there. Those points seem extremely big this year due to the fact you’re playing divisional opponents every night. That means for every point you leave on the table, one of your division rivals picks it up.
Probable lines for the Stars
Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Joe Pavelski (16)
Tanner Kero (64) – Jamie Benn (14) – Denis Gurianov (34)
Andrew Cogliano (11) – Radek Faksa (12) – Blake Comeau (15)
Rhett Gardner (49) – Ty Dellandrea (10) – Joel L’Esperance (38)
Esa Lindell (23) – John Klingberg (3)
Jamie Oleksiak (2) – Miro Heiskanen (4)
Joel Hanley (44) – Sami Vatanen (45)
Jake Oettinger (29)
Anton Khudobin (35)
The Columbus Blue Jackets
Over a three period this past weekend, the Blue Jackets traded Nick Foligno, David Savard and Riley Nash. All three players yielded draft picks for Columbus. Five picks in all over the next couple of drafts.
Offensively, the Blue Jackets are one of the worst in the league. They rank 28th in goals at 2.5 per game. They rank 25th in shots on goal (29.2 per game) and their power play is ranked 28th (14%).
It seems like a broken record at this point in time but this could be the series in which the Stars get their season turned around. Dallas still finds themselves seven points out of the final playoff spot with 15 games to play.
Potential lines for Columbus
Oliver Bjorkstrand (28) – Max Domi (16) – Patrik Lane (29)
Mikhail Grigorenko (25) – Jack Roslovic (96) – Cam Atkinson (13)
Eric Robinson (50) – Alexandre Texier (42) – Zac Dalpe (26)
Stefan Matteau (23) – Joshua Dunne (21) – Kole Sherwood (88)
Michael Del Zotto (15) – Seth Jones (3)
Vladislav Gavrikov (44) – Scott Harrington (4)
Mikko Lehtonen (43) – Gabriel Carlsson (53)
Joonas Korpisalo (70)
Elvis Merzlikins (90)