Cam Talbot’s glove was still turning when the Dallas Stars’ night took its first damaging twist. At 9:16 of the second period, Esa Lindell’s wrist shot drew a scrambling save near the right post, with Talbot spinning as he reached for it. An awkward recovery produced a remarkably effective save.
That stop kept Dallas from taking a lead into the third period. Talbot supplied another answer at 16:45, denying Robertson’s breakaway using his left pad. One save came from a defenseman’s shot and frantic recovery; the other arrived in a clean breakaway situation.
Together, they explain why the Stars earned only one point in a 2-1 shootout loss at Columbus more convincingly than any complaint about Dallas’ finishing.
The Blue Jackets’ goaltender was the game’s central figure before the Stars ever solved him. Talbot stopped 27 of 28 shots through regulation and overtime, and his two second-period interventions preserved a scoreless game that could easily have tilted toward Dallas. Casey DeSmith was excellent too, stopping 29 of Columbus’ 30 shots over 65:00.
But Talbot twice kept Dallas off the scoreboard before the final period began.
The numbers underline how little room existed. Columbus finished with 30 shots to Dallas’ 28, while the Stars went 0-for-1 on the power play. Dallas was not buried under a barrage, and this was not an offensive collapse.
Robertson recorded three shots, while Lindell and Thomas Harley had five apiece. Those opportunities were real. So was the fact that Talbot handled the ones that could have changed the game earliest.
Dallas also created a chance to finish the job in overtime, outshooting Columbus 3-1. Harley had attempts at 2:01 and 4:57, with Tyler Seguin shooting at 4:45. Talbot stopped all three. The Stars’ extra-period pressure gave them a route to the second point before the shootout arrived, but Columbus’ goalie closed that route as firmly as he had closed the second period.
Dallas eventually found a way beyond his first save. With 6:27 gone in the third, Wyatt Johnston took advantage of an Ivan Provorov turnover and put a shot toward the net. Talbot could not control the rebound, and Mikko Rantanen gathered it beside the cage before waiting for a near-post opening. His ninth goal gave Dallas a 1-0 lead.
That was good hockey from the Stars, and it deserves more credit than a bare glance at the final score provides. Johnston created the opportunity by turning Columbus’ giveaway into an attack. Rantanen stayed with the play after the first attempt and finished with patience.
Dallas did not need a perfect passing sequence; it needed to recognize the loose puck and convert the second chance. It did both.
The trouble was that Talbot had made the margin unusually narrow. Dallas’ breakthrough came after a turnover, a first shot that did not become a goal and a rebound finish. Earlier, Lindell’s attempt and Robertson’s breakaway had offered different opportunities to alter the game. Talbot erased them, leaving the Stars with no cushion when Columbus finally pushed back.
