The Columbus Blue Jackets are trying to stay positive in the face of a three-game losing streak as they prepare to begin a two-game series against the visiting Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Their most recent loss came Thursday at home, giving up a 4-1 lead in the third period to lose 5-4 in overtime to the Florida Panthers.
Max Domi, who had a goal and an assist in the loss, said the Blue Jackets are staying positive even though they've recorded only two wins in their past 10 games.
"We have a great group in here," the 26-year-old center said. "We have to believe in each other and believe in ourselves and go out and get a win and then just go from there. We'll take the point tonight and the positives that came with it, and we'll go on to the next one."
Domi's assist on Oliver Bjorkstand's goal to open the scoring against the Panthers was his first point in 10 games. Patrik Laine also ended a seven-game point drought with a goal and an assist, while Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves after missing eight games with a shoulder injury.
It could be the start of something, Domi said.
"When you have the puck on your stick and you make plays, that's how you build confidence, right?" Domi said.
Head coach John Tortorella echoed the idea of building confidence, despite game statistics that don't bear out in the Blue Jackets' favor. The Blue Jackets committed 21 giveaways and won only 34 percent of their faceoffs.
"We just have to keep on growing each game," Tortorella said. "Although we don't get a full result tonight, we get a point. ... There are so many good things happening, as far as breaking out of our end zone, and a lot of good things going on. We have to focus on that."
On Saturday, the Blue Jackets host another struggling team in the Stars. When they last met exactly one week ago, the Stars stomped the Blue Jackets 5-0.
The Stars are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, after trouncing the same team 6-1 on Tuesday. Anton Khudobin allowed four goals on eight shots and was replaced by Jake Oettinger in the third period.
The Stars were 0-for-5 on the power play, including a 35-second 5-on-3 opportunity in the second period. They were 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"The power play was awful, the penalty kill wasn't good enough," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "When you're off like that, you would hope your power play would get you a goal to get you going. It didn't happen tonight."
On the bright side, Roope Hintz scored for the third straight game and John Klingberg had a highlight-reel goal, skating the length of the ice and ripping a shot from the slot past Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen.
The Stars outshot and outhit the Blackhawks, 30-16 and 25-15, respectively. They also won 54 percent of the faceoffs.
The work ethic is there, Stars forward Blake Comeau said.
"We've just got to stick with it," he said. "We're not giving up a whole lot, to be honest with you. That was the case tonight. It seemed like they'd shoot it, and it would go in. We had some great looks, some pucks that just didn't seem to find the way in the first two periods and we were down trying to chase the game in the third."
--Field Level Media