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Three defeats in succession bring the Dallas Stars (1st in Central Division) to the second part of their current back-to-back stretch, with the Columbus Blue Jackets (8th in Metropolitan) paying a visit on the back of two wins in their last three contests.
The Columbus Blue Jackets (17-34-4) bagged their second victory in the past three outings (2-1-0) after snatching a 3-1 triumph against the Winnipeg Jets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Patrik Laine (15 snipes, 34 points this year) picked up a goal and an assist, as the Jackets tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play marker midway through the second period before adding two more strikes, including an empty-netter, in the final third. Kent Johnson (12 goals, 27 points) and Boone Jenner (16 goals, 30 points) also tallied for Columbus, which killed three 5-on-3 penalties in a game for the second time in its franchise history.
Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 37 saves on Thursday to take his current performance status to 9-10-3 for the season with a 3.23 GAA and a .910 save percentage. He has registered a 4-4-1 career total versus Dallas w ith a 3.35 GAA and a .893 save percentage, while Elvis Merzlikins (6-15-0 on the year with a 4.28 GAA and a .873 save percentage) is 2-1-0 against the Stars historically with a 2.29 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are 3rd in least goals netted per game this season (2.53), 3rd in most goals allowed on average (3.76), 2nd from the bottom in power play (16.1%) and 19th in penalty kill (77.0%).
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