Dallas Stars at Columbus Blue Jackets

Marchenko scores twice and Blue Jackets beat Stars 6-4 to stay in wild-card hunt

Ivan Provorov added a goal and an assist, while Mathieu Olivier and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Columbus. Adam Fantilli added an empty-netter with 32 seconds remaining and Elvis Merzlikins made 19 saves.

Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist for Dallas, which had won theree in a row. Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Mavrik Bourque each scored, and Mikael Granlund had two assists. Jake Oettinger stopped 23 shots.

Takeaways Dallas: Playing the final game of a six-city road trip, the Stars fought back to pull within a goal late but couldn’t match Columbus’ energy and execution.

Columbus: The Blue Jackets started strong, weathered rallies from a tough Dallas team and killed off a critical four-minute penalty to secure two much-needed points.

Key Moment Marchenko opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the game and later extended Columbus’ lead to 3-1 at 1:11 of the second period. The goals were his first since returning from a three-game absence due to a broken jaw.

Key Stat Provorov’s goal was the 39th by a Blue Jackets defenseman this season — the most of any team in the NHL.

Up Next The Stars return home to host Los Angeles on Friday night, while the Blue Jackets visit Detroit on Thursday night.

Series tied 1-1