Blue Jackets at Stars

The top performers are doing their jobs and the supporting actors are chipping in as the Dallas Stars surge toward the top of the Central Division standings while notching at least a point in six of the last seven games (4-2-1). The Stars look to continue the trend and earn a fifth straight victory on home ice when they host the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

Jamie Benn owns a six-game point streak, Tyler Seguin has five goals in the last five contests and goaltender Ben Bishop boasts a .946 save percentage over his past five outings for Dallas, which is 13-6-2 over its last 21 encounters. “I think the fans are starting to see that this is a team that has an identity,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters after Sunday’s 6-0 victory over San Jose. “They can see it on the ice, they can see the way we play, and I think they’re really into what we’re doing right now.” Columbus is beginning to show the effects of having three of their top nine forwards and a top-four defenseman out with injuries, losing three in a row (0-2-1) and managing two wins in its last eight outings (2-4-2). “No one’s coming to help us,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno told reporters after the 5-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. “No one’s feeling sorry for us. The league keeps coming. We’ve got to find a way out of it. It starts with our mentality of who we are as a team.”

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), FSN Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (22-15-3): Columbus won’t have forwards Cam Atkinson (foot), Alexander Wennberg (back) and Brandon Dubinsky (facial fracture) back in the near future while defenseman Ryan Murray (upper-body) could return soon. Left wing Artemi Panarin registered 18 of his team-high 34 points in 15 games during December and reportedly skated with Foligno and rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois as coach John Tortorella shuffled his top two lines at practice Monday. Josh Anderson, who owns a team-high 14 goals, dropped down to team with Sonny Milano and Boone Jenner on the second forward unit.

ABOUT THE STARS (22-15-3): Benn has three goals and five assists during his six-game run and leads the team with 37 points - two better than Seguin, who needs one goal for his fifth straight season with at least 20. Tyler Pitlick registered a pair of goals and Radek Faksa notched three assists in the win over San Jose as the duo skated with Antoine Roussel on an emerging strong third line for Dallas. Right wing Alexander Radulov, who is fourth on the team with 32 points, was limited to 9:16 of ice time Sunday by an upper-body injury but Hitchcock said he should be fine for Tuesday.

OVERTIME

1. Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky (199 career victories) has one win (1-2-2) and an .896 save percentage in his last five games, but shut out the Stars in Dallas last season.

2. Stars D John Klingberg, whose 29 assists lead all NHL blueliners, boasts seven points in his last six games and has been key on a power play that has converted once in each of the last six contests.

3. Columbus D Zach Werenski leads all blue liners in the league with 11 goals and top-pair partner D Seth Jones has seven points in his last seven games.
Poll

Who will win this game?

Odds
SpreadMoneylineMoneyTotal
Dallas StarsStars-1 12  265-150
4.50
o -145u 105
Columbus Blue JacketsBlue Jackets+1 12  -420110
Moneyline Consensus: Dallas Stars: 0%     Columbus Blue Jackets: 0%
Vegas Prediction: Dallas: 3 (Win)    Columbus: 2 (Loss)
Season Series
DallasStatsColumbus
0-1-1Vs2-0-0
2Goals3
3.4Shot %5.8
0.0Power Play %0.0
52.8Faceoff %47.2