DAL 5, CBJ 3: Blue Jackets Survive Werenski Scare, But Not Stars — Or Stripes — In 5-3 Loss To Dallas

	1	2	3	F
	1	2	0	3
	1	2	2	5
CBJ GOALS:  Sillinger (1st, 6:43) Fantilli (2nd, 4:58) Provorov (2nd, 12:02)

Some losses are more frustrating than others.

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Dallas Stars 5-3 Sunday night, but not without questionable officiating overshadowing the game.

Cole Sillinger got the scoring started with his 9th of the game on Columbus' (eventual) first shot of the game. Dallas would tie the game later in the first, in part because of the first questionable non-call of the night.

"(Dante Fabbro) gets elbowed square in the face, and then they score," said head coach Dean Evason.

Fabbro left the game and did not return, with Evason having no update on his status after the game beyond saying Fabbro “would not be available.”

Evason also did not have an update on Kirill Marchenko, who left the game late in the second period and did not return following a puck to the upper-body while he was on the bench. 

The Blue Jackets would regain their lead in the opening minutes of the second period on Adam Fantilli's 16th goal of the night before the Stars would answer just over a minute later as a result of another questionable non-call, this time with Kent Johnson being hauled down without a whistle.

"I don't think you should be able to grab a guy's hip and spin him around so he falls down and they get a 2-on-1," said Evason of the non-call on Johnson.

Columbus would again take a lead, this time at 3-2, before Dallas would tie it again to make it a 3-3 game entering the third period. The Stars would then take a 4-3 lead in the middle of the third period on an Evgeni Dadonov goal in which he appears to have used a high-stick, resulting in the non-call that got the most buzz of the game.

After a league-initiated review, the goal was confirmed as a good goal and Dallas got their first lead of the game, 4-3.

"I was watching it from behind and I don't know what angle they have or what they see, but I disagree with it," said Adam Fantilli, who was on the bench when the goal was scored.

Evason was less couth.

"It's a bad call. It's a high-stick. I just don't understand it," said Evason. "I guess we'll have to wait and hear back and see what angles they don't have maybe that we do."

Ivan Provorov, who had scored the third goal of the game for Columbus, said that Dallas' reaction was telling.

"It looked like a high stick from our end," said Provorov. "By (Dallas') reaction it even looked like they thought it was a high stick, but we're not the ones making the calls."

"We're a great team and we're just going to move forward," said Provorov.

Evason echoed a similar sentiment, saying that despite the loss, the team did play well.

"There's a couple things that happened in this game that are very frustrating, but they've happened, and our guys just kept pushing and grinding and we didn't get the job done — but we did set ourselves up to get the job done." 

Here's how the Blue Jackets left Dallas empty-handed:

1st Period:

(6:43 — CBJ Goal): It takes nearly seven minutes, but the Blue Jackets get a goal on their first shot of the game. James van Riemsdyk makes a good entry into the Dallas zone and then gets a goal-mouth pass over to Kent Johnson. His attempt is blocked by Stars defenseman Matt Dumba but it bounces right to Sillinger, who gets a shot off that pings around a bit off Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith before finding the back of the net to make it 1-0 Columbus.

One shot, one goal!

Cole Sillinger gets his 9th goal of the season on the first shot of the game for the #CBJ.

Blue Jackets still up 1-0 with 9:32 left in the first. pic.twitter.com/YLXagdjTub

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 2, 2025

(13:36 — DAL Goal): The Stars had 40 seconds of zone time after winning a face-off before tying the game at 1-1 as Lian Bischel's shot from just inside the blueline deflects perfectly off Mason Marchment and past Merzlikins. There wasn't much Elvis could do about this one.

2nd Period

(4:58 — CBJ Goal): A lot of good puck movement throughout the Dallas zone by Columbus leads to the Blue Jackets' restoring their lead. Eventually, Kirill Marchenko finds Dmitri Voronkov just outside the crease and while Voronkov can't put it away, his shot attempt generates a rebound that goes right to Fantilli. He puts it in the back of the net by just a hair to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.

Top line doin' work again here; Fantilli gets his 16th of the season with assists from Voronkov and Marchenko. Columbus' 2-1 lead would last just over a minute before the Stars tied it at 2-2. #CBJpic.twitter.com/9qD3rTzSJI

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 3, 2025

(6:03 — DAL Goal): Johnson is hauled down right in middle of the Columbus zone but no penalty is called, much to the chagrin of the Blue Jackets. That allows Mikael Granlund to pick up the puck and dish it over to Logan Stankoven, who beats Merzlikins to knot it back up at 2-2 just over one minute after the Blue Jackets had regained a lead.

(11:28 — Zach Werenski Injury): In a scary moment, Werenski was in obvious pain after an awkward collision with Dumba at the 8:32 mark of the second period. He would leave the bench shortly thereafter but returned for the third period and appeared fine.

(12:02 — CBJ Goal): Columbus takes their third lead of the game on Provorov's fourth goal of the season after some good work between Justin Danforth and Mikael Pyyhtia, the latter of which finds Provorov by himself in the high slot. He fires it through a crowd of Dallas skaters, and it pings off the post and in to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.

We're through two periods and it's 3-3 between Dallas and the #CBJ. Ivan Provorov's fourth of the season here.

The immediate concern, though, is the health of Zach Werenski. He left with some kind of arm or shoulder injury late in the second...pic.twitter.com/MvyVlW0KxR

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 3, 2025

(15:49 — DAL Goal): Dallas answers again, this time with a power-play goal from Wyatt Johnston. It takes the Stars just 14 seconds to officially get the goal, but they had skated with an extra man for exactly one minute on the delayed call just before tying the game at 3-3.

3rd Period

(11:22 & 15:47 — DAL Goals): After the controversial goal at 11:22 gives the Stara a 4-3 lead, Dadonov gets another goal just over four minutes later to put the game out of reach for the Blue Jackets, despite a late Columbus power-play opportunity.

Stat Chat:

• Dallas' 39 shots on goal is the fourth-most allowed by the Blue Jackets this season.
   
• Columbus' power play continues to struggle. They were 0/3 tonight, their sixth straight game without a man-advantage goal. They had just three scoring chances (and gave up two) in their six minutes of power-play action in the loss.
   
• Werenski was held off the scoreboard for the first time in five games, but did miss the final eight minutes and change of the second period with the injury.

Up Next:

The four-game road trip concludes Tuesday night when the Blue Jackets visit Buffalo for a date with the Sabres. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.