Game Recap

COLUMBUS 3, DALLAS 2 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - In hasn't taken long for the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets to enjoy key victories. Steve Heinze scored two power-play goals and Ron Tugnutt stopped 26 shots as the Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to three with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night over the Dallas Stars. "These last three games are big to win," Heinze said after Columbus beat the Stars, last season's Western Conference champions and the Stanley Cup winners two seasons ago. "They're big to let everyone in the league know we can compete with anyone." All three wins have come at home and against teams from the Pacific Division. The Blue Jackets jumped past idle Chicago and out of the basement in the Central Division. "This is raising the bar for ourselves," Heinze said. "Now we have no excuses." Enjoying the first winning streak in its brief history, Columbus has won five of its last six at Nationwide Arena. After a 1-7-0-1 start, the Blue Jackets have gone 5-3-1-0. Tugnutt improved to 4-1-1 in his last six starts. He turned away the routine shots and made several spectacular saves. "I just think I'm doing my part," Tugnutt said. "I've got to do my part and the guys have got to do their part. When we do it together, we win." It was a good recovery for the Blue Jackets, who were soundly beaten by the Stars 4-0 on Nov. 1 as Ed Belfour only had to stop 14 shots. Joe Nieuwendyk had two goals that night. "Columbus is a really honest, hard-working team," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think when you don't put a good team game into the picture, you're going to get beat. And that's what happened tonight. Their work in the first two periods really put us on our heels." In the first period on Tuesday, Tugnutt stopped Mike Modano's redirection of a Brett Hull pass and gloved a hard slap shot by Hull. Hull rebounded with two third-period goals after Columbus built a 3-0 lead. He scored his ninth after Modano rifled a centering pass from the left boards, then tapped in a rebound with 3:43 left to close the gap to a goal. Frantisek Kucera, the only Blue Jackets player who hadn't scored a point this season, finally got on the board at 7:39 of the first period with a slap shot from the top of the left circle. "I was thinking about it," Kucera said of his pointless start. `"I would take a look at the stats and see zero-zero. I'm glad I got my first point and that it was a goal. I knew I was playing good defensively, but everybody likes to score." COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS 3, Dallas Stars 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 0 0 2 2 Columbus 2 0 1 3 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Columbus, Kucera 1, 7:39. 2, Columbus, Heinze 5 (Nummelin, Knutsen), 15:10 (pp). PENALTIES: Hull, Dal (ob.-holding), 4:40; Sim, Dal (slashing), 14:10. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Gardiner, Clm (ob.-hooking), 14:04; Marshall, Dal, double minor (holding, unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Columbus, Heinze 6 (Nummelin, Sanderson), 3:08 (pp). 4, Dallas, Hull 9 (Modano, Sydor), 5:55. 5, Dallas, Hull 10 (Morrow), 16:17. PENALTIES: Pushor, Clm (interference), 8:50; Odelein, Clm (holding), 11:45. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 8 8 12 28 Columbus 10 11 9 30 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 3; Columbus 2 of 4. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 7-5-2 (30 shots-27 saves). Columbus, Tugnutt 5-7-1 (28-26). Referees: Blaine Angus, Kevin Pollock. Linesmen: Mark Pare, Dan Schachte. A: 15,732 (18,136).