That's a bummer.
Daniil Tarasov made his NHL debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night but came up just short 3-2 against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The news that Tarasov would make the start came hours before puck drop after it was announced both Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo were ill (non-Covid related).
The Blue Jackets have now dropped three in a row for the first time this season, whereas the red-hot Stars have won six straight. Stars' goaltender Jake Oettinger (20 saves on 22 shots) improves to 6-0-1 in seven career starts against the Blue Jackets and is 5-0-0 on the season.
Daniil Tarasov Impresses
Though he came up short, Tarasov was awesome for the Blue Jackets in his debut stopping 34 of 37 shots. Jason Robertson scored twice on the rookie, including the first goal of the game at 1:08 of the first period. But how about this stat below:
It's a tough first goal for #CBJ rookie Daniil Tarasov to give up in his debut, obviously, but in fairness it was NHL history -- the Dallas Stars are the first team in league annals to score in the first 75 seconds of four straight games.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 3, 2021
Tarasov was able to ease into the rest of the frame as he made five saves on six shots, and the defense was trying to do their part to help out their young goaltender.
Credit to the #CBJ defense -- the only two shots on goal for the Stars through 10-plus minutes are the Robertson goal and the shot that led to his rebound tally.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 3, 2021
Dallas has gone nine minutes without a shot on goal since taking the 1-0 lead.
Kuraly gets caught again leading to a Stars odd-man rush, but this time Tarasov with a pretty darn good save on the onrushing Miro Heiskanen. Two huge saves here in the period for Daniil. #CBJ
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 3, 2021
No matter how this ends up, Daniil Tarasov deserves a ton of credit for his performance tonight.
— Mark Scheig (@markscheig) December 3, 2021
Woke up in the AHL.
Rushed on a flight to Dallas to play one of the hottest teams in the league.
He's given #CBJ a chance to win. All you can ask for.
BOOOONE
Boone Jenner did his part to put the Blue Jackets on his back tonight, starting with his team-leading 11th goal and the nifty deke to finish the breakaway chance. For the night, he had two shots (21:48 ice time) and won 11 of 21 face-offs (52.4%).
BOONE with the nifty play. pic.twitter.com/gGVjRxzYGx #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 3, 2021
Boone Jenner expects things to ramp up quickly, so the @BlueJacketsNHL will need to sustain their first-period push.#CBJ | @DMaetzMedia pic.twitter.com/zUTJjJLpW8
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) December 3, 2021
As Jenner alluded to during the first period intermission, the Blue Jackets wanted to get back to their gameplan and dictate the pace of play. They did a better job of that during the game but they still need to get their offense going.
The power play wasn't able to convert on two chances but Jenner came close.
Excellent pass from Boqvist to Jenner -- who else! -- at the net front on the power play, but a better save by Oettinger with the pad to keep the Stars up 3-2. #CBJ
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 3, 2021
Close But No Cigar
In order to right the ship and stop the bleeding, the Blue Jackets need to get back to doing the things that have made them successful for much of the season.
The first period displayed those good things, namely playing fast and on their toes.
A solid first period for the #CBJ -- Jackets were on their toes, got out of the zone better and won a lot of puck battles. And that allows the team to overcome the early Dallas goal and go to the locker room tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 3, 2021
They also kept that intensity up into the second period and were rewarded by Alexandre Texier's goal at 1:25 into the middle frame.
BIG TEX sets a new career-high in goals pic.twitter.com/Zrhh1qPEA5 #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 3, 2021
But the tide changed midway through the second period.
#TexasHockey Benn just blasted #CBJ Voracek from behind along the wall.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 3, 2021
As Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre talked about during the second period intermission, the momentum went the other way following Jamie Benn's big hit on Jake Voracek, and the Stars scored two goals 49 seconds apart soon after.
Tyler Seguin scored a goal off a deflection (16:25) and Robertson netted his second go-ahead goal (17:14) for the eventual game-winner.
Capital Revenge
The Blue Jackets will travel to Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals Saturday at 7:00 pm ET. Columbus lost to the Capitals 4-3 on Nov. 12 at Nationwide Arena. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Capitals 4-3 in a shootout Thursday in D.C.
