Blue Jackets Fall 3-1 to Stars After Costly Late Goals and Missed Chances

Columbus had enough of the play in Dallas to make this a close game, but a pair of damaging goals around the first-period horn left the Blue Jackets chasing the score. They eventually cut the deficit to one, yet a disallowed goal and a late miss kept their push from producing an equalizer in a 3-1 loss to the Stars on Halloween.

The opening setback came at 2:16. A clearing attempt by Jet Greaves went over the glass, giving Dallas a power play. Mikko Rantanen found space behind Columbus’ penalty-killing formation, and Wyatt Johnston’s pass set him up for a tap-in. Sean Monahan was a step late tracking the rush, while Rantanen’s route through the coverage gave him the opening to finish.

That early goal put the Blue Jackets in a difficult spot, but the more painful sequence arrived in the final seconds of the period. Columbus eased off before the horn, leaving Thomas Harley room to send a shot toward the net. It beat Greaves with just 0.2 seconds remaining, turning a manageable one-goal deficit into a 2-0 hole.

Columbus pushed back without a finish

The Blue Jackets answered with a strong second period, outshooting Dallas 9-5 and spending more time on the attack. The effort showed a team capable of dictating stretches of play even on the road. The missing piece was a finish: Columbus couldn’t turn its pressure into a goal before intermission.

They appeared to have one early in the third when Valeri Nichushkin put the puck in the net, but the goal was overturned after an offside challenge. Charlie Coyle was ruled offside by two inches, erasing the tally and keeping the Stars’ lead at two. For Columbus, that narrow margin was another example of how quickly a promising sequence could unravel.

The Jackets kept working in the offensive zone, and at 6:21 Damon Severson finally got them on the board. Adam Fantilli won a clean faceoff, creating the chance for Zach Werenski to send a sharp pass to Severson as both defensemen joined the attack. Severson’s timing on the rush was right, and his goal made it 2-1.

Columbus had opportunities to pull even after that. Conor Garland came closest late, but his shot off a Denton Mateychuk pass went just wide. The miss extended Garland’s scoreless stretch to 20 games, a tough marker for a team looking for more offense from its veterans. The Jackets’ pressure was real; the finish still wasn’t there.

Small margins shaped the result

Dallas added an empty-net goal with one second left to seal the 3-1 result. It was the Stars’ second goal late in a period, following Harley’s strike with 0.2 seconds remaining in the first. Those moments framed a game in which Columbus spent long stretches competing well, but paid heavily for lapses and near misses.

The Blue Jackets’ performance offered reasons to see progress. They controlled play for extended stretches, generated a response after falling behind and built the sequence that led to Severson’s goal. The source’s cited advanced measures also favored Columbus, though those numbers couldn’t account for the timing of the goals against or the chances that narrowly failed to become goals.

That timing is the clearest thread through the loss. Rantanen arrived behind the penalty killers just as the passing lane opened. Harley’s shot came after Columbus had stopped defending before the period ended. The overturned Nichushkin goal hinged on a two-inch offside, and Garland’s late attempt missed by a narrow margin. A game can tilt on details like those even when one side looks capable of driving play.

Severson’s finish showed what the Blue Jackets need more often: a clean transition from possession to attack, with a decisive pass and a well-timed arrival. The performance gives Columbus something to build on, but pressure alone won’t restart a sputtering offense. The veteran forwards will need to convert those tight windows into goals when the team returns home Tuesday night.