Zach Werenski’s backhand with 3:14 remaining turned Dallas’ slim advantage into a problem it could no longer solve in regulation. The Stars lost 2-1 to Columbus in a shootout Thursday, after Werenski’s goal when the third-period clock reached 16:46 erased Mikko Rantanen’s lead. The goal did not prove Dallas deliberately retreated. It did expose how little protection six third-period shots had bought.
Dallas had scored first 6:27 into that period, when Rantanen finished a rebound created by Wyatt Johnston. Johnston took advantage of an Ivan Provorov turnover and got the first shot away; Cam Talbot stopped that attempt, and Rantanen collected the rebound beside the net before finding room at the near post. A finish like that can rescue a game in which chances are scarce.
It cannot make a 1-0 score comfortable.
Werenski’s equalizer came after he moved in from the left circle and sent a backhand over Casey DeSmith’s left pad. Kent Johnson and Matthew Knies assisted. Columbus earned the equalizer, but the shot totals do not explain every choice Dallas made before it.
The Stars had six shots in the period, while the Blue Jackets had 10. Those totals describe a thin margin and a late imbalance in opportunity; they do not, by themselves, reveal an intentional defensive posture.
Dallas’ defensive performance deserves credit, particularly with Miro Heiskanen unavailable because of an upper-body injury. The Stars killed both Columbus power plays, blocked several attempts and limited the damage well enough to carry a lead into the final minutes. Thomas Harley played 28:31 and recorded five shots and three blocks.
Esa Lindell added five shots and three blocks in 26:05. Nils Lundkvist handled a season-high 21:06.
But 30 shots against are a substantial counterweight to any celebration of defensive order. DeSmith stopped 29 across 65:00, and his work kept Dallas attached to a game that its offense never fully claimed. A team can defend more cleanly than it did in a previous outing and still ask its goalie to erase too many chances for a one-goal lead to feel secure.
The second period supplied the clearest warning. At 9:16, Talbot made a scrambling spinning glove save on Lindell’s wrist shot near the right post. At 16:45, he denied Robertson’s breakaway using his left pad. Those were two separate Dallas opportunities, and the Columbus goaltender stopped both. Talbot finished with 27 saves on 28 shots and was named the game’s first star.
The second period ended scoreless even though Dallas had put 12 shots on Talbot during it. The Stars then had six in the third, when Rantanen finally converted and Werenski eventually replied. That contrast is the offensive frustration: Dallas got its lead in the period when it put fewer shots on net.
It left less opportunity to add the goal that would have made Columbus’ equalizer only a reduction in the margin.
