Dallas Stars early season woes continue in loss to Blue Jackets

A 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets forces the Dallas Stars to continue the slow start to their 2019-20 season.

After nearly eliminating the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Dallas Stars were a team to look out for during the summer. Signing Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry put them in the Stanley Cup contender discussion. However, the Stars have yet to prove they belong in that tier. A third straight regulation loss, the latest one a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, puts them at 1-6-2.

Through 15 games, the Stars have scored just 15 goals. Pavelski has yet to score a goal at five-on-five, though he did get his first goal of the season when the Stars pulled their goaltender. However, it was too little, too late. The Stars fell behind 2-0 early and weren’t able to dig themselves out of it.

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Adding Pavelski and Perry was supposed to help their offense, but so far, the Stars have actually been worse this season than they were last season. Last season, they averaged 2.548 goals per game while scoring the third-fewest goals per game. This season, the Stars are the only team in the NHL averaging under two goals per game.

A huge reason for their offensive struggles has been the lack of production from their top forward line. Over the past two seasons, the Stars have been carried by Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alexander Radulov. This season, the trio has struggled mightily through four games. Seguin and Radulov each have four points through eight games while Benn has three.

Their offensive struggles certainly aren’t limited to just their top line, though. Only five players have at least four points and only three players have scored multiple goals. Roope Hintz is their only player who has scored more than two goals through eight games. To his credit, Joonas Korpisalo was terrific last night, making 30 saves. But ultimately, the Stars weren’t able to get enough pucks past him.

Goaltender Ben Bishop had a solid night, stopping 32 of the 35 shots he saw. None of the three goals he allowed were his fault. However, the defense once again struggled. The Stars defense was terrific last season, but hasn’t been early this season. The Blue Jackets got a goal from Alex Wennberg after the Stars turned the puck over in their own zone. And on Sonny Milano‘s game-winning goal, they let him get on a mini-breakaway.