For two periods, nothing happened. Then everything happened.
The Blue Jackets' shift to a more conservative game plan paid dividends through 40 minutes, as they were able to limit the Dallas Stars' chances and speed through the neutral zone.
Sergei Bobrovsky was sharp and Ben Bishop did his part at the other end. Whatever happened between periods, we'll never know, but the scoring came out of nowhere.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| STARS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Devin Shore redirected a John Klingberg shot only 44 seconds into the third period, giving Dallas the game's opening goal on a seemingly innocuous play. But with how tight the game had been to that point, such a goal seemed appropriate to break the ice.
And then it was Oliver Bjorkstrand's turn.
He pulled the Blue Jackets even at 1-1 only minutes after the Stars goal, taking advantage of a turnover and walking in to beat Bishop with a clean-look wrister from the right circle. His line with Lukas Sedlak and Matt Calvert had already played a solid game, but the goal was the payoff for it.
The kid wasn't done there, though.
His second was a work of vintage Bjorkstrand art – hanging on to the puck deep into Stars ice, leaning into a defender and then snapping a short-side shot over Bishop's shoulder when everyone thought there was absolutely no room to speak of (and to be fair, there wasn't much of anything to shoot at).
Despite a late surge from the Stars, the Blue Jackets held on with one of their best defensive efforts of the season. They limited Dallas, a team that had won four straight at home and was 6-2-2 in its last 10, to only 22 shots and kept a clean house in front of Bobrovsky, who picked up his 200th career victory.
Injury Update
Ryan Murray is traveling with the Blue Jackets on this two-game road trip, but no timetable has been announced for a return. He's been on injured reserve since late November with an upper body injury.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets conclude their quick trip on Thursday night in Denver, a 9 p.m. ET face-off against the Colorado Avalanche.
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ANOTHER GRAF
