The Dallas Stars will try to conclude their six-game homestand on a high note when they entertain the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
The Stars have dropped back-to-back one-sided games following a five-game winning streak.
After losing 5-1 on Tuesday to the New Jersey Devils, who were debuting newly acquired three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in goal, the Stars absorbed a 5-2 loss on Thursday to the Montreal Canadiens.
“Our puck play is atrocious right now,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said after the latest loss.
The Stars have already shown they can turn things around in a hurry.
They lost their first two games of the season before posting back-to-back shutouts against the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres. Dallas responded to its next two-game losing streak by winning five in a row.
Gulutzan knows what it will take to snap the latest skid.
“You can say maybe you’re lacking a little confidence, or you’re a little tentative, but the only way to get it is to dig in,” Gulutzan said. “You can’t hand somebody confidence. You’ve got to put in the work, and you’ve got to be focused. We need to bear down.”
Gulutzan said the Stars will get some reinforcements on Saturday.
Esa Lindell rotated in on a couple defensive pairings at practice on Friday after missing five games with a lower-body injury, and forwards Radek Faksa and David Perron are also close to joining the lineup.
Faksa has missed three games with a lower-body injury, and the 38-year-old Perron has been getting up to speed after signing as a free agent two weeks ago.
Gulutzan said at least one from that trio will play against the Blue Jackets, and possibly two.
A forward spot opened on the roster when the Stars sent Matthew Seminoff down to AHL affiliate Texas on Friday.
The Blue Jackets are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C, which came on the heels of back-to-back overtime victories for their first two-game winning streak of the season.
Columbus put itself in a 3-0 hole in the loss to the Hurricanes before scoring twice in the first 10 minutes of the third period. They managed just one shot on Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov over the final seven minutes, however.
“We go down three, and we see our fight and what we have, but we have to bring that early on,” Columbus forward Charlie Coyle said. “No matter what happens, we have to stick on that script. We didn’t start with it, and it hurt us in the end.”
Columbus coach Rick Bowness echoed what Coyle said after the loss. The Blue Jackets lost the first period against the Hurricanes, but won the next two. Unfortunately, it’s the scoreboard that counts.
“I know we lost, but our best hockey is going to be ahead of us if we play like that for 60 minutes like we played the last two (periods),” Bowness said. “There’s not a team or a building we can’t go into and win.”
Kent Johnson is off to a stellar start for the Blue Jackets, scoring his team-leading seventh goal on Thursday to match his total from last season over 76 games.
Zach Werenski, who scored 22 goals last season after notching 23 in 2024-25, has yet to score through 11 games this season, but the defenseman has distributed nine assists.
