The Columbus Blue Jackets had to battle in overtime wins at Vegas and Utah, and faced another tough road opponent tonight in the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately they didn’t have enough in the tank to overcome the injury bug and missed calls.
First Period
Dallas controlled play early and earned their first power play after Damon Severson hooked Mason Marchment to prevent a breakaway goal. On that power play, Cole Sillinger made a good defensive stop and sprung Zach Aston-Reese on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Unfortunately, Silly whiffed on the one-timer attempt.
Luckily, back at 5v5 he converted his next chance. James van Riemsdyk (playing with a face shield and 30 stitches, and minus 4 teeth) came down the right wing with speed and flipped the puck from the goal line across the crease to Kent Johnson for a shot. Sillinger came in for the rebound and put the Jackets on the board. That’s Cole’s 100th career point!
The Jackets got their own power play after Aston-Reese drew a high stick, but the power play couldn’t get anything going.
Shortly after the penalty expired, Dallas controlled play in the offensive zone. After Mason Marchment had a shot go wide, he chased his rebound behind the net and collided with Dante Fabbro in the corner. In the process, Fabbro took an elbow to the head and went down briefly. Dallas cycled the puck around to Lian Bichsel, who fired the puck back inside, where Marchment (wearing a face shield of his own after returning from injury) tipped the puck in to tie the game.
Late in the period, Fabbro tripped Jason Robertson but went to the locker room instead of the penaty box (Voronkov served the penalty) and did not return to the game. It appears that he was still affected by the head shot he took from Marchment.
Second Period
The Jackets came out strong in the second period, and took the lead with another gritty goal from the top line. Kirill Marchenko had a wrap-around attempt, Dmitri Voronkov had a rebound attempt, then Adam Fantilli recovered the puck, waited a bit, then whipped it through an opening in the defense.
Just over a minute later, as Kent Johnson was preparing to break out of the offensive zone, he was hooked and spun around by Thomas Harley. Mikael Granlund (traded from San Jose to Dallas just yesterday) recovered the puck and passed to a wide open Logan Stankoven. It’s absurd that the refs didn’t call a penalty on this play.
You know this Jackets team doesn’t quit, right? Great play from the “fourth” line, with Justin Danforth winning a battle below the goal line, Mikael Pyyhtia recovering the puck and cycling through the zone, and finally Ivan Provorov launching a shot from the point while Danforth and Sean Kuraly shielded Casey DeSmith.
JVR was called for a holding penalty and the delayed penalty lasted over a minute on its own (and after most Jackets had already been on the ice for a minute. On the power play, the Stars won the initial faceoff and took just 14 seconds to score, on a great centering pass from Harley to Wyatt Johnston in the slot.
Late in the period, Marchenko was hit in the face by an errant puck while sitting on the bench. He went down the tunnel holding a towel to his face and did not return in the third period. In addition, Zach Werenski spent several minutes on the bench nursing what looked like a hand injury, and also went down the tunnel. It was later reported as a shoulder injury, but he was back for the start of the third period.
Third Period
With Marchenko out, Kent Johnson moved up to the top line and they clicked early in the third.
Provorov was cross-checked into the boards by Robertson but again the power play did nothing. They first unit (with Sillinger taking Marchenko’s place) struggled to maintain possession and had two sloppy turnovers that led to chances for the Stars.
With 8:38, Dallas took the lead after Evgenii Dadonov deflected a Harley shot. The Stars didn’t celebrate, however, because they thought it may have been deflected by a high stick. The refs initiated a review with Toronto and after a long wait, they ruled that the call on the ice of a good goal was confirmed. This despite the FanDuel Sports Network camera showing an angle that seemed pretty conclusive that Dadonov’s stick made contact with the puck higher than the crossbar.
Here’s a freeze frame:
Dadonov iced the game with another goal that he deflected off of Damon Severson on a wrap-around attempt. With the injuries on defense, Severson was double-shifting with Jake Christiansen and Denton Mateychuk. On this play, I feel like Severson overplayed to the left on the rush, and then Mateychuk overcompensated in front of the net, and neither were in position to properly defend Dadonov’s shot.
With just over two minutes left, Sean Kuraly drew an interference penalty along the boards, and the Jackets pulled Elvis Merzlikins and went to 6-on-4. They maintained possession for most of the power play and created a lot of good looks. JVR joined the top unit, and he and Voronkov were both stationed down low. There was great puck movement along the sides and up top by Johnson, Fantilli, and Werenski. Alas, it wasn’t enough.
In the final seconds, when Dallas had the puck back, Provorov dove to block a shot and prevent an empty net goal. The game was out of hand at that point, but it’s good to see him giving 100% up until the final horn.
Final Thoughts
It’s a loser attitude to blame the refs, but….there were several key moments where calls didn’t go our way and it clearly had a major impact: Fabbro was injured with a hit to the head that didn’t draw a penalty; the second Stars goal came after an uncalled hooking or holding penalty that led to a Johnson turnover; and the game-winner by Dadonov seems to be a pretty obvious high stick deflection. Each of Fantilli, Provorov, and Dean Evason were careful after the game to not say anything that would draw a fine, but all were clearly unhappy with the officiating.
There was no update on the status of Fabbro and Marchenko. Hopefully each is back soon.
On the defense/goaltending side, it was too easy for Dallas to get bodies inside, where the puck could be deflected. That’s a recipe for disaster.
These teams rematch in Columbus on February 25. That should be fun!
Up Next
The road trip comes to a conclusion on Tuesday in Buffalo at 7 PM EST. After that, there are two games at home before the 4 Nations break. With all the bumps and bruises, that break can’t come too soon.