Stars Beat Blue Jackets 3-1 on Halloween: Oettinger Makes 25 Saves and Harley Ends His Drought
Dallas scored twice in the first period at American Airlines Center and beat Columbus 3-1 on Saturday night, closing a six-game homestand with Jake Oettinger stopping 25 of 26 shots.
The Dallas Stars needed the first period and their goaltender, and on Halloween night both delivered. Dallas beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday at American Airlines Center, scoring twice in the opening period and riding Jake Oettinger's 25 saves to close a six-game homestand with a win after back-to-back one-sided losses.
Mikko Rantanen opened the scoring on an early power play — Columbus goaltender Jet Greaves had cleared the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty — redirecting in his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Thomas Harley doubled the lead in the final second of the first period, a one-timer from above the left circle that beat Greaves at the horn; it was Harley's first goal of the season. Greaves finished with 14 saves, and Columbus outshot Dallas 26-17 on the night without ever catching up.
Columbus thought it had broken through early in the third when a Valeri Nichushkin goal was taken off the board on an offside review, and Damon Severson did spoil Oettinger's shutout bid at 6:21 of the third to make it 2-1. Arttu Hyry settled it with an empty-net goal with one second left. Dallas improves to 8-5-1; Columbus falls to 5-7-0 and finished its first multi-game road trip 1-2-0. The teams meet again Thursday in Columbus.
