Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski ready to build off of win over Stars

The Columbus Blue Jackets continued their strong form under head coach Rick Bowness with a 1-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. It was Columbus’s fifth win in six games and their fourth under Bowness, who replaced Dean Evason nine days ago.

Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski scored the game’s only goal at 8:48 of the first period, sending a wrist shot from the right face-off circle through traffic past Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith. The goal, assisted by Damon Severson and Isac Lundestrom, who returned after missing 12 games due to a lower-body injury, was all the scoring Columbus needed. It was Werenski’s 19th goal of the season and his 18th career game-winning goal, moving past David Vyborny for fifth in franchise history.

“I feel like tonight was probably our best in terms of reading off each other, understanding where we should be in the D-zone, how he wants us to play,” Werenski said after the win. “I feel like each game we’re going to continue to get better and better, and I think tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.”

Jet Greaves, who made 28 saves, earned his first shutout of the season and third in his career over 55 games with the Jackets. He bailed the team out with a handful of clutch saves, including a third-period breakaway stop against Mavrik Bourque and a late close-range save on Justin Hryckowian. His efforts helped Columbus remain perfect on the penalty kill, going 2-for-2 against a Stars power play ranked second in the NHL.

The victory also gave Blue Jackets forward Charlie Coyle a memorable milestone, as he played his 1,000th NHL game. Although his late empty-net goal with 11.3 seconds left was called offside, Coyle still got to celebrate a win with the team. Mason Marchment returned to the lineup after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.

Dallas, who entered the game averaging 3.32 goals per game, outshot Columbus 28-22 but could not overcome the Jackets’ disciplined defense and Greaves’ performance between the pipes.

Bowness, who made defensive structure a priority when he took over, got exactly what he wanted as Columbus limited the Stars to just 13 high-danger chances while staying composed in their own zone. The win was a perfect bounce-back following a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the opener of their five-game homestand.

The Blue Jackets will next host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, hoping to build on the way they’ve been playing lately, both offensively and defensively.

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