Cannons Silenced: Dallas Stars dismantle the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3

Oct 30, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) and center Joe Pavelski (16) and center Roope Hintz (24) celebrate the Stars victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) and center Joe Pavelski (16) and center Roope Hintz (24) celebrate the Stars victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

That was what I call a complete game even though the Stars’ defense had a rough start to the game. The Dallas Stars would end up winning 5-3 over the Columbus Blue Jackets after Thomas Harley opened the scoring less than a minute into the game. The Stars are 1-0 in the Blackout Jerseys this year and hopefully, they can continue their win streak on the road. With all that said, let’s look at the three keys of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at home last night.

Dallas Stars vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Recap: 3. Offense didn’t take a period to get going

Even though I didn’t get to watch the game due to the Bally Sports outage last night, I was surprised the Stars scored within the first minute. Thomas Harley went flying into the Blue Jackets zone and put a pass from Jason Robertson into the back of the net.

This is what I meant in the pregame article that they needed to be aggressive early and put them to bed. Even though they were trailing at the end of the first period, it was good to see the Stars get aggressive at the beginning of the game instead of the second period.

Dallas Stars vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Recap: 2. Stars punched back

The one thing that I was happy to see was that the Stars punched back after trailing after the first period. They could have just let the Blue Jackets take their skates off and kicked back and relax in the American Airlines Center. However, they responded in the second period with a goal from Roope Hintz and poured it on in the third period. That’s the kind of fight that fans should want to see in their favorite hockey team when they trail early in a game.

Dallas Stars vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Recap: 1. Matt Duchene finally got his first goal as a Dallas Star

You could see the sigh of relief when he finally scored his first goal of the season during the celebration. After all the shot attempts he’s had early on in the season, Matt Duchene finally got his first goal as a Dallas Star. He was the biggest signing this offseason for the Stars. Last year, he was the leading goal scorer on the Nashville Predators with 22 goals and recorded 34 assists as well. I can tell you that won’t be the last time that we see Duchene score a goal in a Stars uniform.