Blue Jackets struggle to score, lose to Stars 5-1
DALLAS (AP) -- Tyler Seguin broke open a tight game with two second-period goals 30 seconds apart, and the Dallas Stars beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Kari Lehtonen improved to 11-1-0 by making 34 saves. He also notched his third assist of the season on Seguin's first goal.
Defensemen Johnny Oduya and Alex Goligoski each scored to give Dallas one-goal leads in the first and second.
Scott Hartnell scored on the power play for Columbus at 4:32 of the second before Goligoski's goal at 13:02 gave the Stars a lead they never relinquished. Seguin's 16th and 17th goals came at 16:26 and 16:56.
Columbus rookie Joonas Korpisalo had 23 saves before Curtis McElhinney replaced him for the third period. McElhinney stopped six shots but gave up a goal to rookie Mattias Janmark.
The Blue Jackets went unrewarded after dominating the first period. They outshot the Stars 16-8, which included 14-0 during a span of 10:36.
Dallas scored the period's only goal at 17:53. Defenseman Jack Johnson failed to clear the puck, which went to Oduya above the left faceoff circle. He sent a wrist shot under Korpisalo's left arm for an unassisted goal.
Columbus tied the game in the second during the game's first power play. Lehtonen stopped Hartnell on a close-in attempt. Seconds later, at 4:32, the Blue Jackets' leading scorer redirected the puck into the net off a pass by Alexander Wennberg into the slot.
The Stars took another one-goal lead in the second. Ales Hemsky shot wide right, and the puck bounced hard off the boards to Goligoski. He swept in to put a wrist shot behind Korpisalo.
Seguin took a long pass from John Klingberg and used a hesitation fake to slide a shot under Korpisalo at 16:26. Half a minute later, Seguin scored again with a wrist shot inside the right post.
Dallas outshot Columbus 19-12 in the free-wheeling period.
The Stars didn't score on their first power play, beginning at 18:02 of the second. The best scoring chance was a short-handed breakaway by Columbus' Matt Calvert, which Lehtonen denied.
McElhinney stopped a point-blank backhand by Janmark, but on his own rebound Janmark backhanded the puck into the net at 1:47 of the third.
NOTES: The 21-year-old Korpisalo was making his second NHL start -- the second in two nights. He earned it by making 27 saves in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Monday. Korpisalo was recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL because of a groin injury to No. 1 goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has missed three games. . Stars captain Jamie Benn got his 400th career point with an assist on Seguin's second goal. . Dallas has an NHL-leading 48 points. Columbus has an NHL-low 25 in a league-high 33 games. . The Stars have won seven of their last eight at home. ... The Blue Jackets had won four straight in Dallas, dating to Oct. 15, 2011. ... Two fights broke out in the final 7 minutes.
