Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Dallas Stars 1

Another lackluster effort results in another demoralizing loss.

The Dallas Stars' offensive weapons couldn't be bothered to show up Monday night in Columbus, as the Stars dropped their third straight in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. The loss dropped Dallas to 2-3-1, with all six games decided by one goal. Columbus improved to 2-3-1.

Photo not provided by the Dallas Stars

The Stars' offense had execution problems all night.

Dallas dominated in a scoreless first period, outshooting the Blue Jackets 9-3 but just missing on a half-dozen prime scoring chances. The Stars finally got on the board 4:13 into the second period, when Philip Larsen scored his first goal of the season --and the first goal for any Stars defenseman in 2013-- on a powerplay shot from the point for the 1-0 lead. Jamie Benn, playing in his first game of the season, got the secondary assist while Alex Goligoski got his third assist of the season and third in the last three games.

At that point the game started to unravel for Dallas. After chasing the puck for a long time in his own zone, Vern Fiddler was hit with a rare double-minor, one for hooking and one for high-sticking, putting the Stars on a four-minute penalty kill. Just 42 seconds later Stars center Tom Wandell was hit with another minor for closing his hand on the puck in the defensive zone, giving Columbus a full two-minute 5-on-3. Fortunately for Dallas, the Blue Jackets didn't play the two-man advantage with much tenacity, and they were able to kill all three penalties.

In a period where they outshot the Stars 17-5, Columbus finally got the equalizer at 17:47 when Derek Dorsett took a cross-ice pass from Fedor Tyutin and put one just under Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen's armpit for his first goal of the year and the 1-1 tie.

The Blue Jackets took the lead at 1:22 of the third period when Vinny Prospal launched a shot from a bad angle that eluded Lehtonen and squeaked in for the 2-1 lead. Dallas counterattacked throughout the period, but was unable to maintain any pressure in the offensive zone.

Lehtonen had a good day despite the loss, making one stunning behind-the-back save in the second period and finishing with 25 saves on 27 shots. Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky was one better, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

Dallas next heads to Detroit, where they will face the 2-2-1 Red Wings tomorrow night.