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

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- — Kirill Marchenko scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars 6-4 on Tuesday night for their second straight win to keep them in the hunt for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

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.

------

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl